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City of Vancouver approves Jericho Lands planning policy

Planning work expected to start in the fall
jericho lands
Vancouver city council Tuesday morning approved a planning program for the future of the Jericho Lands. Photo Dan Toulgoet


Vancouver city council Tuesday morning approved a planning program for the future of the Jericho Lands.

“The Jericho Lands in Vancouver’s West Point Grey neighbourhood will undergo a comprehensive planning and engagement program that will help guide future redevelopment of the site to create a new community that is sustainable, socially and culturally inclusive, and highly livable,” states a City of Vancouver press release.

The program approved by council Tuesday is the start of a two-year process aiming to establish principles, objectives and policies on: reconciliation, affordable housing, land use, density, height, public benefits, transportation, built form, character, sustainability, infrastructure and phases of development, the release states.

“A broad engagement process involving the community, stakeholders and participants from throughout the city will be integral to the program.”

Jericho Lands is a 36-hectare (90-acre) site in West Point Grey owned by the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations and Canada Lands Company. It is bound by West Fourth Avenue to the north, Highbury Street to the east, West Eighth Avenue/West Broadway to the south and Discovery Street/Trimble Park to the west. The land is within the traditional territories of the three First Nations and in June the three nations and Canada Lands Company asked the city to initiate a planning program to create a vision and updated land use policy or the future of the site.

 The planning program will look at a number of areas, including:

  • ways to advance our collective work toward reconciliation
  • creating a complete community with new housing for a range of income levels, families and rentals
  • providing new housing within walking distance of existing and planned rapid transit routes
  • providing shops, services, childcare, community and employment space to support the new community and the rest of the city
  • protecting cultural and heritage assets
  • creating new parks and open space, and a comprehensive package of other community amenities that will be determined through the planning process

The planning process will also consider the existing uses on the site and their future. The land is currently home to Jericho Hill Centre, which is operated by the West Point Grey Community Centre Association and Vancouver Park Board, and West Point Grey Academy, an independent K-12 school, as well as the Jericho Garrison.

The garrison was owned by the Department of National Defence until 2014 when ownership was transferred to Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations and Canada Lands Company.

The defence operations have since moved but some of the existing housing will continue to be leased to military personnel until 2020.

Work on the planning program is expected to start in the fall.