City Centre Plan

On July 11, 2022, Council approved land use designation changes in the Bolivar Heights and Green Timbers Districts of the City Centre Plan, as described in Corporate Report R137; 2022. An updated land use plan is available here.

In Bolivar Heights, these updates include introducing a variety of housing options, from single family homes and multiplexes to townhouses and low rise apartments. Other updates include a new urban, mixed-use village that will offer a variety of shops and services; community amenities and neighbourhood parks within a short walking distance of all residents; and a road network that is finer grained and better connected.

In Green Timbers, updates include introducing a new mixed-use precinct of mid to high rise residential towers and a variety of shops and services around the future 140 Street Station. Increased densities are also designated along 100 Avenue west of the BC Hydro Transmission Corridor, complementing on-going growth patterns in adjacent areas. The road network has also been modified to improve connections to transit and ensure a finer grained, continuous street grid that supports walking and cycling. There will also be new park.

Work on the City Centre Plan Update continues and an updated plan document is anticipated to be completed by Fall 2023, including revisions to urban design guidelines, engineering servicing, road network refinements, and community amenities.

On March 28, 2022, Council approved an update to the City Centre Plan to incorporate policies that encourage office and employment growth. The update includes land use changes that introduce employment space requirements for key City Centre locations. This establishes a Central Business District in the core of City Centre where office development will be prioritized. Development will come in the form of standalone office towers as well as mixed-use buildings that include a significant office component. A Health and Technology District is also created in the vicinity of Surrey Memorial Hospital that will support high density office development. In the coming months, some refinements will be undertaken to the office requirements for mixed-use buildings.

The update also includes the creation of an Entertainment and Cultural District integrated with the Central Business District. The intent of this is to support office growth by encouraging the types of businesses and amenities that are important to both office workers and their employers and that are typically found in vibrant downtowns. Additional work will be undertaken in the coming months to establish a vision for the Entertainment and Cultural District.

With these changes, Surrey will protect centrally located, transit accessible land for long-term employment growth and preserve space near major institutions for future expansion. It will also make City Centre more attractive as an office centre and allow for a critical mass of office space to develop in the coming years.

Review the Report to Council.

After considering feedback from the public in Spring 2021, we started work on draft land use and policy proposals for each of the two plan update components.

Office and Employment Strategy

We developed draft employment space requirements for the Central Business District and other mixed-use areas in City Centre. These draft policies were shared with development and commercial real estate stakeholders through focused workshops and meetings in Fall 2021. To learn about the feedback that was gathered from the Fall engagement, view the Step 2 Engagement Summary for the Office and Employment Strategy.

Bolivar Heights and Green Timbers

Based on what we heard in Step 1, we developed draft land use concepts for each of the neighbourhoods. These were shared with the public in Fall 2021. An online survey was also conducted to gather feedback on the draft land uses. Results of the survey are included in the Step 2 Engagement Summary for Bolivar Heights and Green Timbers Districts.

We kicked off engagement for the City Centre Plan in Spring 2021. The community was invited to provide input on three areas of the plan being updated (Central Business District, Bolivar Heights District, and Green Timbers District). Participants were invited to complete a survey. View a summary of the results from this first round of engagement.

The community helped shape the vision and principles of the original City Centre Plan, which was approved in 2017. In Spring 2021, we kicked off an update to the Plan. As part of this work the the vision and principles were revisited. Participants were asked in a survey if they would change anything about the vision and principles. Suggestions varied, but a few key themes emerged:

• Foster a sense of safety in neighbourhoods.
• Ensure adequate and affordable housing options.
• Create walkable neighbourhoods.
• Provide more parks and open space.

To reflect these suggestions, the Vision and Principles have been revised as follows:

Vision

Surrey City Centre will be the region’s second metropolitan centre and the downtown for the Fraser Valley. Regionally connected by rapid transit, City Centre will support walking, cycling, and transit. City Centre will be many things: a major employment, institutional, and commercial centre; a collection of safe, vibrant, high density neighbourhoods; and a hub of cultural and entertainment activity. City Centre will be renowned as a ‘green’ downtown served by parks, plazas, greenways, planted boulevards, and fish-bearing creeks.

Principles

• Build Density & Mixed Use
• Encourage Housing Diversity
• Break Up the Block Size
• Design Roads for Multiple Modes
• Create Safe, Vibrant Urban Spaces
• Green the Downtown
• Encourage Office & Employment
• Promote Identity & Sense of Place

Review the City Centre Vision & Guiding Principles.