A summary of the proposed Shaughnessy Hospital expansion : an assessment of potential impacts.
The following is an outline of planning functions carried out over time. Except where noted a function was carried out by the Town Planning Commission 1926-1952 (with support from the Engineering Department), then by Planning Department divisions whose names and scope of responsibilities shifted frequently, primarily with the major reorganizations of 1964, 1973, 1977 and 1995. For more detail on functional development please refer to the inventory for the Planning Department.
(1) City planning. From its beginnings as the Vancouver Town Planning Commission's function (by-law no. 1771, 1926) of "town planning" or "city planning" has related to planning and controlling the physical development of the city. The more specific meaning of city planning relates to ongoing processes of preparing published city plans (according to the methods of the day). Some of the narrower aspects of city planning over the years have been: (a) downtown business district planning (the downtown area has been called the Downtown Business District, the Central Area, and the Core Area); (b) heritage conservation: the preservation of historic buildings and other designed aspects of Vancouver was assumed as a new function by the Planning Department in 1973; (c) neighbourhood planning (also called local area planning and community planning), was carried out by the Engineering Department 1926-1952 (with the exception of the Shaughnessy area, which was assigned to the Town Planning Commission), then by the Planning Department; and (d) planning research: gathering economic, physical and social data for the purposes of decision making.
(2) Residential rehabilitation programs administration. New function assumed by the Planning Department's Housing and Development Branch in 1964; discontinued in the 1980s.
(3) Traffic planning. Moved in 1952 from the Town Planning Commission to the Planning Department's Highway Traffic and Design Branch. Function transferred to Engineering Department in the early 1980s.
(4) Urban design advisory. Provided in the early years by the Town Planning Commission, then by the Civic Design Panel, an advisory body (as of 1973, the Urban Design Panel), which provided advice to the Technical Planning Board, then Development Permit Board.
(5) Zoning designation and regulation advisory. Relates to the administration and review of proposed land use and development, particularly with respect to areas allowing more than 1 or 2 family dwellings. The basis for the authority of zoning regulation is the frequently amended Zoning and Development By-law no. 3575 (17 May 1956), which was preceded by the Zoning By-law (first passed 5 Feb. 1927, no. 1830).
The Planning Department reported to City Council's Planning and Steering Committee 1952-1956, then to the Board of Administration, 1956-1974, which changed to the Office of the City Manager, 1974-1995. As of the 1995 reorganization it has been reporting to the General Manager of Community Services, 1995-.
The Planning Department underwent major reorganizations in 1964, 1973, 1977, and 1995, according to developments in city planning practice. After the 1995 reorganization the following divisions, of widely varying scope and size, were created: Director's Office (including Heritage), Central Area Planning, City Plans, Community Planning, Land Use and Development, Planning Resources, and Research and Policy Studies.
As of the 1995 City-wide reorganization the Planning Department has been managed by a team of co-directors.
For earlier planning records see in particular the Vancouver Town Planning Commission fonds. For additional Planning Department records as generated by the Office of the City Clerk see series 20 ("Subject files - including Council supporting documents", 1954-1974) and series 62 ("Operational subject files - including Council supporting documents"). Zoning hearings, held by City Council, are most comprehensively documented in the Office of the City Clerk's series 42, "Public hearings - Council zoning supporting documents", 1960-1989. Appeals to City Council decisions were heard by the Vancouver Zoning Board of Appeal (see the fonds, minutes 1927-1980 are series 493).
Previous name "Planning and Civic Development " - from what years?
Note in PDS description suggests 1954-1957, but name seems to be in common usage until at least 1973.
?Issuing offices include the Planning and Civic Development Department (1954-1957), the Planning Department (1957-1998), the Transportation Planning Section, the Civic Design Section, the Director, the Overall Planning Division, the Britannia Planning Advisory Committee, the False Creek Development Group, the Housing Study Team, the Heritage Conservation Program, etc.