New building proposals in Surrey up to six storeys no longer need design panel review

Surrey City Hall. (City of Surrey)

Significant changes are being made to the City of Surrey’s review process for the design of new building proposals, with the changes approved by City Council on Monday.

A large proportion of the projects — specifically mid-rise and low-rise developments — that the municipal government reviews will no longer have to go through the City’s Advisory Design Panel (ADP), which is a City Council-appointed volunteer-based board to advise City staff on the proposed design of the project. Recommendations made by the ADP can lead project proponents to create design changes.

The panel comprises private sector design professionals, such as architects, landscape architects, and engineers, as well as a heritage consultant, representatives of the development industry, RCMP, and a universal design and accessibility professional or advisor.

The newly approved exemptions will reduce the review and approval times for certain types of applications.

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With the changes, residential buildings up to six storeys and commercial (retail/office) buildings up to three storeys will no longer have to go through ADP review as long as this approach is supported by City staff.

For larger projects more than six storeys for residential uses and more than three storeys for commercial uses, as well as select major projects, the ADP review can be made before the application is introduced to City Council, after the third reading, or after the “approval to draft” a development permit. This approach must also be supported by City staff.

If the proposed design is not supported by City staff, the ADP review can occur before the introduction of the application to City Council. This means the ADP will act as a “second opinion” for City staff and their recommendations to City Council.

These changes are a major departure from the previous policies requiring all proposals for high-rise and low-rise residential buildings, mixed-use developments, commercial developments with a floor area ratio (FAR) density greater than 0.5 FAR or 20,000 sq ft of floor space, major industrial developments, and select civic projects to go through the ADP before City Council’s consideration.

“With the housing crisis in mind, this Council is taking steps to speed up our development application timelines. I thank our dedicated staff for working quickly to find solutions that will help significantly reduce processing times, while not compromising urban design outcomes. These changes will result in homes being built faster, and in turn, better meet our growing community’s vital need for new housing,” said Mayor Brenda Locke.

These new changes, coupled with the previous decision to exempt townhouse and industrial projects from urban design review, will reduce the number of ADP-reviewed projects by 60% to 70%. This will shorten application review and approval timelines by “several months.”

Many municipalities, particularly larger ones, also have their equivalent of the ADP. Within the City of Vancouver, the equivalent of the ADP is the Urban Design Panel.

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