Headwaters Project

Contributor: Sara K. Muir
Location: Lower Mainland, British Columbia
Land Use: Settlement
Habitat Type: Watercourse/Riparian
Project Timeline: 1998-YEAR

Highlights

The City of Surrey and Pacific Resources Ltd. with the James Taylor Chair in Landscapes and Livable Environments of the University of British Columbia are working on a new plan for a community in Surrey. Together, these key players have coordinated the efforts of planners, engineers, developers, environmental consultants, and a community advisory committee to formulate a Neighbourhood Concept Plan (NCP) for the sustainable urban community of East Clayton, Surrey BC.

The East Clayton NCP will influence municipal planning policy and the standards applied to urban development to help reduce the negative impact of storm water runoff onto downstream agricultural lands. It will also influence how municipalities can plan for urban development that is more compatible with adjacent agricultural activities.

• Introduction
• Challenges
• Process
• Actions
• Results
• Next Steps

• In December of 1998, the Surrey City Council requested city planners investigate the options of sustainable development for the newly proposed urban community of East Clayton. With the help of Pacific Resources Centre, and the James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Livable Environments, the City of Surrey is undergoing a unique planning and design process to establish the East Clayton Neighbourhood Concept Plan (NCP) – a community plan based on seven sustainable principles:

  1. increase density and conserve energy by designing compact walkable neighbourhoods. This will encourage pedestrian activities where basic services (e.g., schools, parks, transit, shops, etc.) are within a five- to six-minute walk of homes
  2. provide different dwelling types (a mix of housing types, including a broad range of densities from single-family homes to apartment buildings) in the same neighbourhood and even on the same street
  3. communities are designed for people; therefore, all dwellings should present a friendly face to the street in order to promote social interaction
  4. ensure that car storage and services are handled at the rear of dwellings
  5. provide an interconnected street network, in a grid or modified grid pattern, to ensure a variety of itineraries and to disperse traffic congestion; and provide public transit to connect East Clayton with the surrounding region
  6. provide narrow streets shaded by rows of trees in order to save costs and to provide a greener, friendlier environment
  7. preserve the natural environment and promote natural drainage systems (in which storm water is held on the surface and permitted to seep naturally into the ground)

  Project Objectives
  The UBC James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Livable Environments, the City of Surrey and the Pacific Resource Centre are working on developing East Clayton as a demonstration project. Objectives for The Headwaters Project include

  1. provide agricultural landowners and farmers with a) improved water quality that flows from urban upstream areas; and b) reduced downstream flooding

  2. provide municipalities with design and performance standards that emphasize the management of our natural resources through an integrated green infrastructure based on ecological approach and natural resource management

  3. provide municipalities with an integrated method for planning urban land developments and agricultural lowlands and communicate awareness of the need for innovative design and construction standards that benefit both urban and agricultural landscapes

  4. increase awareness and the rate of adoption of the alternative standards to help reduce the duration of lowland flooding

  5. provide municipalities, engineers, developers, and planners with innovative alternative standards that when adopted and applied by municipalities will change how storm water runoff is managed in urban upland areas adjacent to agricultural lowlands that will improve drainage conditions and in turn crop yields.

• Upon examining the cooperation and innovation that is required to implement a plan such as the East Clayton NCP, the benefits and challenges of a multi-party and integrated design process become apparent.

  Though initially coordinating the constituencies was somewhat of a challenge, the early involvement by the various groups created awareness and an acceptance of the proposed plan as it was being developed. Public involvement, through the Citizen Advisory Committee, has resulted in worthwhile public participation by creating a partnership situation, where every constituency group had equal access to information and the opportunity to give input. The presence of a neutral independent process facilitator has allowed an increased level of communication between the public and City staff, as well as between various constituency groups.

  An integrative approach, such as the one that was used, is more labour and time intensive. Yet, the results of a Neighbourhood Concept Plan for East Clayton that has had sign off from the various agencies while achieving a level of public approval within just three short months (from the first workshop to the end of the charrette) show the very real benefits of such an integrated approach.

• Public consultation, through the charrette process, was the key to the successful creation of the East Clayton Neighbourhood Concept Plan. The public and the appropriate private, city, and regional institutions, aided by landscape architects and other consultants, succeeded in designing the East Clayton plan during a four-day charrette. This novel approach to design was necessitated by the need to make myriad digressions from status-quo development standards in order to meet the seven principles of sustainability (itemized under Introduction).

  Carefully developed and strictly enforced guidelines helped to facilitate the charrette process. These simple yet effective guidelines offered insight, inspiration, and a level playing field to all those involved in the process. They are to

  1. build capacity for integration through shared awareness and determination to act jointly
  2. involve early on (preferably at the beginning) those people, agencies, and organisations that can influence plan policy and development standards (including their implementation)
  3. share information equally
  4. share resources across mandates for mutual gain
  5. build confidence in the process, in plan policies, and in alternative development standards
  6. ensure the direct involvement of municipal staff
  7. gain access to the necessary technical expertise
  8. deal with issues efficiently.

  The charrette attempted to resolve some of the broader regional transportation, safety and livability issues, proposing plans for a street network, land use, and green infrastructure. Since the charrette, subcommittees have been working on elements of the plan, including savings and expenses, block and building forms, street sections and right-of-ways.

• Workshops were held with the various constituencies, including City staff, developers, utilities and services, environmental representatives, and the public. These workshops allowed the opportunity to reflect on what was being proposed and what could be seen as impediments and opportunities in this type of development.

  The results of these workshops were sent back to the participants to ensure that their comments and concerns were accurately recorded. Out of these workshops, participants selected a representative that would be part of the Design Table. The individuals at the Design Table were either vested with sufficient authority to negotiate new standards “on the fly” or they were delegated to represent larger constituencies (such as local landowners).

  The charrette structure guaranteed that the local landowners’ interests were represented, and it enabled a group of local individuals to appreciate how the underlying principles and features of the East Clayton plan came together to form a highly mixed-use and sustainable community.

• If one looks back to the original principles that were supported by council to be explored in the East Clayton area, and relates these to what was accomplished through the charrette process, the results are quite remarkable. Through the integrated planning approach and the charrette design process, a Neighbourhood Concept Plan (NCP, based on the seven sustainable principles, has been developed.

  A natural drainage system and an integrated green infrastructure ensure the environmental integrity of the area is protected, and the risk of downstream flooding of the agricultural lowlands is eliminated. Creating wider riparian zones by including them in the parks and engineering functions, offers the ecosystem in the area a better chance of surviving and thriving. The integrated green infrastructure also allows for the creation of a greener community without requiring increased land mass acquisition. Mixing densities and providing a variety of dwelling types allows for a healthy mix of residents who can live, work and play in the same community throughout their economic lifecycle.

  In summary, the main goal of the Headwaters Project – to create a community plan that benefits both the immediate and surrounding environment as well as the people that live there – has been met.

• Since the Headwaters Project has an implementation focus, efforts are now being made to ensure that the structures and mechanisms are in place to implement the East Clayton NCP. There are several levels to the implementation. A stream-monitoring program is being established to guide development practices and record the impacts of a sustainable development.

  There is the implementation of the green infrastructure that requires cooperation between parks, engineering, school boards and environmental agencies. A regulatory system has to be implemented for the natural drainage system. Crime prevention at the neighbourhood level should be explored. And, public acceptance of the plan needs to be confirmed prior to council approval.

  In the meantime, Surrey City staff are working with a re-structured Citizen Advisory Committee, a technical team of consultants, and with the public to provide a more detailed NCP for East Clayton. Part of the next stage will explore and further define land use zones, guidelines and standards, development phasing, and financial and servicing strategies to ensure the NCP for a sustainable East Clayton can be realistically and cost effectively developed.

Acknowledgements

Many organizations and individuals have cooperated to make phase one of the Headwaters Project a success story, and a model case study. Their efforts have been motivated by a shared belief that an integrative, interdisciplinary charrette process can create a comprehensive, more complete community design for a more sustainable urban region. We owe acknowledgement to all those who have participated in the Headwaters Project to date – without their vision, dedication, and valuable time, there would be no project.

Special thanks to the partners

• City of Surrey
• Pacific Resource Centre
• UBC James Taylor Chair in Landscape & Livable Environments
• Ramsay Worden Architects Ltd.
• Reid Crowther & Partners Ltd.

Their efforts and expertise have assisted in bringing the concepts and ideas of the Headwaters Project, and a more sustainable community, into a formal reality.

We would also like to recognize the interest groups and supporters of the project, including

• East Clayton citizens advisory committee
• members of the development community
• Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Environment Canada
• Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
• A.C.T. Program (Federation of Canadian Municipalities)
• Agriculture Investment Foundation (Agriculture Canada)
• Ministry of Municipal Affairs
• Ministry of Agriculture
• Greater Vancouver Regional District.

The Headwaters Project Case Study is based upon “The Headwaters Project: A Sustainable Community Development in the Clayton District of Surrey, B.C.,” the quarterly report prepared by UBC James Taylor Chair, City of Surrey, and Pacific Resources Centre.

Contacts

The James Taylor Chair in Landscapes and Livable Environments
Landscape Architecture, UBC
http://www.agsci.ubc.ca/JamesTaylorChair
Vancouver , BC V6T 1Z4
Phone: (640) 822-5148
Fax: (640) 822-1660

Pacific Resources Centre
Box 18038
5670 Yew St.
Vancouver, BC CAN
V6M 4L3
Phone: (604) 264-0235
Fax: (604) 264-0234
Email: Pacific_Resources@bc.sympatico.ca

City of Surrey
Planning Department
http://www.city.surrey.bc.ca
14245 – 56th Ave
Surrey, BC Canada
V3X 3A2
Phone: (604) 591-4011

Partners

Partners of the Headwaters Project include

• City of Surrey
• Pacific Resource Centre
• UBC James Taylor Chair in Landscape & Livable Environments
• Ramsay Worden Architects Ltd.
• Reid Crowther & Partners Ltd.

Supporting the Headwaters Project is a diverse advisory committee made up of representative citizens of East Clayton, members of the development community, and various interested agencies including

• A.C.T. Program (Federation Canadian Municipalities)
• Agriculture Investment Foundation (Agriculture Canada)
• Canada Mortgage and Housing
• Environment Canada
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Greater Vancouver Regional District
• Ministry of Municipal Affairs
• Ministry of Agriculture
• Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia

Project Partner Contacts