A variety of documents have been compiled to act as support material for the Downtown Plan Update. These documents represent areas ranging from past and current city policy, citizen and downtown community input, regional considerations, and other relevant reports and studies completed in recent years. All of this information has been reviewed by the Steering Committee and informs their discussions. Additional research on Downtown will be completed as part of this project, please check the New Information page for the latest information.
Table of Contents
- Support and Complimentary Documents
- Downtown Victoria Plan 1990
- Victoria Official Community Plan
- City of Victoria Zoning Bylaw
- 2005 Citizens Survey
- Taking Stock of Downtown/Coriolis Report
- 2003 Downtown Indicators and Trends Summary
- City of Victoria Profile
- Downtown Neighbourhood Profile
- Regional Growth Strategy
- Travelchoices
- Victoria Urban Development Agreement
- Downtown Victoria 2020
- Old Town Design Guidelines
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Support Documents
Downtown Victoria Plan 1990
This three-part plan was adopted by Council on April 12, 1990 as a guide for future development Downtown. The plan establishes a "blueprint" for the many community actions that will need to be taken to ensure downtown's continued success and prosperity. It suggests methods for conserving our beautiful heritage buildings. It also proposes ways to harness the forces of change to make downtown more accessible, attractive and enjoyable. Since 1990 the plan has undergone minor modifications, the most recent occurring in 2005. The underlying vision of the 1990 Plan is the creation of a compact and walkable mixed use downtown.
- Downtown Plan 1990 [PDF 2.96 MB]
Deals with downtown-wide issues in further detail, providing background information, objectives, policies, and implementation actions.
Issues explored are:- Heritage and new development
- Downtown as a place to enjoy
- Jobs and new investment
- Parking
- Downtown Plan 1990 - Precincts [ PDF 2.15 MB]
Examines each of the 29 distinct precincts that make up Downtown. These range in area from less than one block to several blocks. For each there is a map showing features and opportunities with notes that cross reference to Part B of the Plan
City of Victoria Official Community Plan, 1995
The Official Community Plan (for short called the OCP) is the high level plan that the guides growth and development within the City. The Official Community Plan also designates Development Permit Areas (DPA's) and Heritage Conservation Areas (HCA's) within the City. For the most part these are for the purpose of regulating the form and character, design and landscaping of renovations and new development. In downtown some of these Development Permit areas are called Heritage Conservation Areas in recognition of their unique historic qualities.
Zoning Bylaw
Zoning plays an important role in meeting community plan objectives by regulating development of private property; including the permitted use, density, height, setbacks, and parking on lots. The City of Victoria's zoning bylaw is composed of a zoning map and the accompanying zoning bylaw 80-29.
The most common zones in downtown are CA 3 [PDF 4KB], CA 3C [PDF 85KB], and CA 4 [PDF 9KB].
2005 City of Victoria Citizen's Survey
Every two years a Citizen Survey is mailed to a random sample of 1,400 Victorians to determine their attitudes on a variety of City programs and services. Answers to the survey questions provide useful information to Council as they set budget priorities, evaluate programs and services, and make decisions about our strategic directions to shape the future of the City of Victoria. The first survey was completed in 2003.
The 2005 and 2003 results are now available.
"Taking Stock of Downtown Victoria" - Coriolis Report [PDF 687KB]
Conducted in 2004 on behalf of the City of Victoria, this independent, in-depth report looks at the downtown situation and prospects and provides suggestions that the City can use in collaboration with other stakeholders on strategies and action plans for downtown.
Questions addressed include:
- In what ways and to what extent has downtown actually been declining
- If downtown has been declining, what are the main underlying causes? To what extent are these causes amendable to local action?
- What is already being done by stakeholders? Are these actions likely to be effective and are there any serious gaps or overlaps in the work that is happening?
- What steps should be taken, by the City or others, to aid downtown?
2003 Downtown Indicators and Trends [PDF 1.3MB]
This document summarizes land use, population, building permits, and social service providers within downtown for periods ranging from 1991 to 2003.
City of Victoria Profiles
The city of Victoria Profile is a summary document of social and economic data designed to provide a high level overview of our city. Officially launched on June 25, 2004, the profile is the culmination of tow years of work by city staff.
- City Profile
The city profile was designed as marketing tool for the business sector. The data, drawn from a variety of sources, situates the City within both the Capital Regional District and the province, highlighting a variety of economic information. Details on leading industry, employers, labour force, and geography supply business leaders with the necessary information require to make informed decision on relocating to Victoria or expanding an existing business.
- Downtown Neighbourhood Profile
The downtown neighbourhood profile provides a snapshot of key demogropahic, socio-economic, housing and other data from the Census to inform about residents in downtown.
Link: City Of Victoria Profiles
Note: Links provided for the following documents lead to websites that are operated by organizations OTHER than the City of Victoria. These links are provided as a convenience only; the City of Victoria is not responsible for content contained on websites operated by other organizations, agencies or individuals.
As a member municipality of the Capital Regional District (CRD), the City of Victoria supports the Regional Growth Strategy (RGS), a regional agreement adopted by the CRD Board in 2003 that addresses social, economic, and environmental goals and priority actions. The RGS establishes eight key initiatives to guide municipal actions:
- Keep urban development compact
- Protect the integrity of rural spaces
- Protect regional green and blue space
- Manage natural resources and the environment sustainably
- Build complete communities
- Improve housing affordability
- Increase transportation choice
- Strengthen the regional economy
Implementation of the RGS is a mutual and cooperative process, to ensure consistency these initiatives have been incorporated into the City of Victoria's Official Community Plan (OCP) in the form of a Regional Context Statement [PDF 37KB]
Link: CRD Regional Planning Services
From the above link you can also access the Regional Travel Choices Strategy, The Regional Housing Affordability Strategy and the Regional Economic Development Strategy. All of these documents provide important information about the role of downtown within the context of the Capital Region.
Travelchoices [PDF 148KB]
As a member municipality of the Capital Regional District (CRD), the City of Victoria supports theTravelChoices Strategy, a regional agreement adopted by the CRD Board on April 13, 2005. Travelchoices provides the Region and its member municipalities with a common vision for developing transportation policy in the future. As the first ever transportation strategy for the Capital Region, it should be viewed as a new beginning.
The strategy sets the stage for how transportation will be planned throughout the region in the coming years. It articulates a preferred transportation future - one in which economic viability, community livability, quality of life and environmental health are upmost.
Link: CRD Regional Planning Services
From the above link you can also access the Regional Growth Strategy, The Regional Housing Affordability Strategy and the Regional Economic Development Strategy. All of these documents provide important information about the role of downtown within the context of the Capital Region.
Victoria Urban Development Agreement
An urban development agreement is a partnership between federal, provincial and municipal governments to collaborate when addressing broad urban development issues for specific cities. Whether it is an inner-city revitalization, strengthened innovation, or sustainable economic development, each urban development agreement is tailored to address the needs of the city it involves. These agreements are instruments to coordinate action among levels of government and to result in the seamless delivery of programs and services.
Note: The Downtown Plan Update is different from the Urban Development Agreement in that it focuses on issues that fall under the jurisdiction of local government such as land use, density, heritage, and urban design.
Downtown Victoria 2020
A conference series initiated and supported by the Downtown Victoria Community Alliance, with help from the City of Victoria and involving representatives and participants from virtually all downtown constituencies and interest groups.
Central themes of the series were:
- What are the challenges and opportunities in our downtown?
- How do we create and implement a plan to restore downtown's luster, economic vibrancy and social health?
The first conference, "The Successful Downtown", held November 17 and 18th, 2003, focused on ideas and vision for downtown, while the second entitled, "From Ideas to Action - Making the Future Happen", held March 22 and 23, 2004, focused on implementation strategies.
After the conferences, working groups prepared papers with recommendations on a number of topics. These ideas and discussion papers can be found here.
Economic Development Opportunities Blueprint and Update [PDF 740KB]
This document was initiated in 2002 by the Greater Victoria Enterprise Partnership Society in response to the need for a regional economic development strategy that would ensure longterm economic viability in the region. When the blueprint was first prepared the economy was not in very good shape due to high unemployment, and other economic challenges ranging from government downsizes to 9/11 after-effects, The Economic Development Opportunities Blueprint aimed to:
- Identify and analyze the region's advantages and constraints in terms of fostering economic development
- Determine key industry and business sectors that present new or expanded investment potential
- Identify strategies to achieve a prosperous and sustainable economy.
By 2004 the local economy had commenced recovery with drops in significant drops unemployment; and in order to maintain relevancy a new 2004 version update of the report was produced. The update was focused on the summary report, with more current socio-economic statistics as well as an appendix addressing opportunities arising from the reward of the 2010 winter games to Vancouver/Whistler.
Link: Victoria Chamber of Commerce
Old Town Design Guidelines (adopted by City Council Dec. 14, 2006) - [PDF 638KB]
