The City of Burnaby has received a failing grade for its transit-oriented development bylaw efforts from a prominent local brokerage company.

Goodman Commercial gave Burnaby an F while grading Metro Vancouver’s six major municipalities in an article that doubled as a report card. The article was published on the company’s website.

The local company says Burnaby has made no progress on designating a transit-oriented development area (TOA) bylaw in accordance with new provincial rules. B.C. municipalities had until June 30 to designate properties within 104 TOAs across the province.

The provincial legislation requires municipalities to allow taller residential towers, of eight to 20 storeys, near SkyTrain stations.

“After amassing over $2 billion in reserve funds from high-density development in its four town centres, the City of Burnaby seems to be saying it is no longer interested in helping house the influx of new residents to the region,” says the Goodman report card. “Council ignored the provincial deadline to designate Burnaby TOAs, instead suggesting that it will see what happens in other cities and revisit at a later date.”

On the other hand, Goodman contended, Burnaby city council did not show the same restraint when it came to imposing “catastrophically” increased development-cost and amenity-cost charges.

“There is no word on whether Burnaby will reduce density bonus charges to offset the 1,500% increase, which creates even more uncertainty,” says the Goodman report card. “The policy changes have left developers scrambling to figure out how, or if, they can move existing projects forward, let alone create any of the new housing supply intended by the provincial legislation.”

Vancouver received the highest grade, a B, after it became “one of the few municipalities to roll out a detailed rezoning policy for each of its 29 transit-oriented development areas before the June 30 deadline.”

“By establishing a detailed framework and setting guidelines for owners and developers, Vancouver has offered clarity and, therefore, is ahead of the pack,” says Goodman. “This is a pleasant surprise, given that Vancouver has the most TOAs and a history of taking forever to complete seemingly simple policy updates.”

Goodman  specializes in the sale of rental-apartment buildings and development sites in Metro Vancouver. The company gave middling marks to New Westminster (C+), Richmond (C), Surrey (C) and Coquitlam (C-.)

The NDP government passed its TOA legislation in late 2023. In doing so, said Goodman, it set up a tug-of-war with municipalities that is now becoming a reality “sometimes with fireworks.”

Burnaby has refused to participate in the process. Coquitlam has designated properties but is discouraging development applications indefinitely, Goodman contends.

“The result is a chaotic regulatory patchwork in the Metro Vancouver region,” says Goodman.

The article/report card was authored by two of the firm’s brokers, Mark Goodman and Ian Brackett.

Although the June 30 deadline for approving municipal bylaws has passed, developers are no closer to having clarity on the key details required to move forward with multi-million dollar investment decisions, Brackett told Connect. The province showed leadership on the issue and gave municipalities a firm deadline to designate TOA properties. However, he contended, the region’s major cities have not displayed the same push to complete the job and fulfill the goal of creating more housing supply that can move through the development-approval process.

“Developers cannot afford to make investments in a community only to find out in six months that what they thought they could build has completely changed,” said Brackett.

Pictured: Mark Goodman (left) and Ian Brackett (right) of Goodman Commercial

Photo: Courtesy of Goodman Commercial