Burnaby is one of the first cities in North America to adopt a height-based approach to zoning, a back-to-basics approach that scraps complex rules common to most jurisdictions in favour of a simple framework that will get new homes built much faster.
“Addressing the housing crisis in our region requires real leadership and a drive to innovate at every step of the development process,” said Mayor Mike Hurley. “Switching to a height-based framework is part of our comprehensive approach to accelerating the number of homes we build in Burnaby – while also making it simple for everyone to understand how their neighbourhoods can develop.”
Burnaby’s 1965 zoning bylaw was initially effective, but over time accumulated layers of rules that ultimately made it increasingly complex and inefficient.
To address this problem, and in response to calls from the provincial and federal government for municipalities to speed up development approvals, the City of Burnaby launched a Zoning Bylaw Rewrite in 2023. The first action, earlier this year, simplified zoning in single- and two-family areas of the city by collapsing 12 different development zones into a single (R1) zone for small-scale multi-unit housing.
Now, Burnaby’s Height-Based Development Framework tackles high density areas such as the city’s town centres where, instead of using complicated floor area ratio (FAR) calculations, the city now uses building height to guide development.
This new system is easier for everyone to understand. By defining development potential by the number of building storeys, architects and developers can save both time and money, and focus their efforts on creating projects with good design and form. It also allows residents to easily predict what their neighbourhood will look like over time.
Burnaby has already given preliminary approval for the first project under the new Height-Based Framework, a 50-storey rental project proposed as part of the BC Builds program at 7135 Walker Avenue, with 384 market and 96 non-market rental units.
