Peanut Gallery Vancouver City Council
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City-wide Design and Development Guidelines

Motion 26 · Council Meeting, July 29, 2026

Carried Moved by Peter Meiszner, Mike Klassen

Summary

  • Council adopted a new City-wide Design and Development Guidelines (CDDG) document, consolidating more than 70 separate urban design guidelines, policies, and bulletins — totalling over 2,200 pages — into a single, unified framework.
  • The CDDG is set to take effect October 27, 2026, following a transition and staff training period, and will replace the bulk of the City's existing standalone design guideline documents.
  • The intent is not to lower design quality standards but to make guidance clearer, more consistent, and easier for applicants and staff to navigate, thereby improving permitting efficiency and reducing administrative burden.
  • The guidelines support the City's broader housing delivery and permitting improvement goals, including the 3-3-3-1 permitting targets, and align with the Vancouver Official Development Plan adopted in 2026.
  • Consequential amendments to solar access guidelines are also approved immediately to align with updated provincial time-zone direction.
  • The CDDG is directly linked to the Updating Apartment Regulations report (Motion 24), providing the updated urban design guidance that accompanies those new zoning rules.

Report Images

Conceptual building massing illustrating how height, floorplate size, and use can be balanced across a mixed-use block with slender towers and active podiums.
Conceptual building massing illustrating how height, floorplate size, and use can be balanced across a mixed-use block with slender towers and active podiums.
Mixed-use neighbourhood with mid-rise residential buildings, ground-floor retail including a market and café, rooftop amenity spaces, and adjacent low-rise context.
Mixed-use neighbourhood with mid-rise residential buildings, ground-floor retail including a market and café, rooftop amenity spaces, and adjacent low-rise context.
Mixed-use development with three slender towers on a shared podium, continuous ground-floor retail frontage, and rooftop amenity spaces on an urban block.
Mixed-use development with three slender towers on a shared podium, continuous ground-floor retail frontage, and rooftop amenity spaces on an urban block.

Vote

In favour 9

Ken SimMike KlassenLisa DominatoRebecca BlighPete FryLucy MaloneyPeter MeisznerBrian MontagueLenny Zhou

Abstained 1

Sean Orr

Documents