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Development and neighbourhoods

Victoria is a city of villages. James Bay is not Fernwood, and neither is Fairfield. The plan adopted in 2025 treats them as one.

What we are asking to change about neighbourhood planning

From

  • One plan stretched over every lot in the city
  • Local area plans revoked, and nothing put in their place
  • Heritage left to be decided case by case, late
  • Growth targets accepted from elsewhere without question

To

  • Planning that knows the difference between one street and the next
  • Local area plans restored, and kept current
  • Heritage protected before a building is lost, not after
  • Growth Victoria plans for itself, with the province paying its share

This From and To is our own wording rather than the group's, because the source documents did not have one for this issue.

What happened

  • The plan arrived fast, and the consultation was built around it

    Victoria 2050, the Official Community Plan, was adopted on October 2, 2025 as Bylaw 25-045.1 It sets what can be built on every lot in the city. In our view the engagement that led to it was shaped to confirm a plan rather than to test one, and the community associations that had always been part of that work were left outside it.

  • Too big, too tall, too much, too fast

    That is the group's own summary and we are keeping it, because it is what residents said at the door. As we read it, the plan roughly doubled development capacity across the city, well beyond the targets the province actually set. Capacity is not the same thing as housing, and building capacity everywhere at once has a cost: land values move first, and speculation follows.

  • Local area plans were revoked

    Neighbourhoods used to have their own plans, written with the people who live there, setting out what fits where. Those were revoked and replaced by citywide land use classes. The practical effect is that "what suits this street" stopped being a question the planning system asks.

  • The infrastructure question was left for later

    More homes need more water, sewer, roads and schools. The plan sets the growth. It does not set out who pays for the pipes, or when. Developers are not required to cover the infrastructure cost their project creates before it is approved, so the bill lands on the tax base. Where that has already shown up is traced on the real tax bill.

Heritage

Heritage sits here rather than on its own page, because in practice it is decided by the same planning choices.

The Official Community Plan gives no definitive protection for heritage buildings. It leaves the question open, which in a development cycle means it gets answered by whoever applies first.

  • Heritage Conservation Area designations have stalled

    James Bay applied for a Heritage Conservation Area. Two years on, that application is still on hold. James Bay has one of the most visible concentrations of heritage housing in the city. Fernwood already has its designation, which shows the tool works when the City chooses to use it. How a neighbourhood applies for one.

  • The Old Town rezoning did not protect Old Town

    The recent bylaw rezoning Old Town is not protective of the heritage buildings already standing there. Our OCP guide sets out what the downtown heritage rules actually say: the OCP, explained in plain language.

Why heritage matters more here than in most cities

Victoria's built heritage is the reason people come, and a good part of the reason people stay. Without those buildings, Victoria is just another city by the ocean.

What the next council should do

  • Rescind Victoria 2050 and reinstate the plan it replaced, then write a new one properly.
  • Build the new plan to the requirements the province set, and no further.
  • Reinstate local area plans and update them to match, because Victoria is a city of villages rather than one city with one plan.
  • Reinstate and extend heritage protections, including against facadism.
  • Bring community associations back in as the neighbourhood hub for consultation.
  • Require developers to cover the infrastructure their projects need before approval.

Ask every candidate

  • Will you restore local area plans, and will they have any binding force?
  • Should Victoria's growth target be set by the City or accepted as handed down? Which do you support?
  • Will you support a Heritage Conservation Area for James Bay, and when?
  • Should a developer pay the infrastructure cost of a project before it is approved?

Sources

  1. City of Victoria, Victoria 2050 Official Community Plan, Bylaw 25-045, adopted October 2, 2025. Official Community Plan

The claims on this page about consultation, development capacity, local area plans and heritage designation are the network's own account of what its members observed. Where a decision is on the public file we have linked it.

Keep reading

The technical detail is in the OCP guide, including the photographs of Brooke Street that show what replacing an older affordable building actually looks like. For what the same plan did to renters, see housing and affordability, and for what it did to the tree canopy, the urban forest.

Where the deep detail lives

  • the OCP guide walks through the 2025 Official Community Plan clause by clause.
  • the real tax bill traces where the money went, with every figure sourced.
  • the media tracker collects what local reporters have written, sorted by issue.
  • the glossary explains the terms council uses in plain language.

The next council decides what happens to your street.

Election day is Saturday, October 17, 2026. Make a plan now, while it is easy.

Make your voting plan See who is running

What has been written about this

Our members have tracked 22 pieces on this issue since January, from news reports to letters. The five most recent are below, and the notes are our members' own.

All 22 pieces on this issue

Most people who read this were sent it by someone they know.