The effect of planning controls on the morphology of the city of Victoria, British Columbia
Date
1969
Authors
Lee, Christopher Lockhart
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Abstract
This thesis is a study of public decisions in the planning and development of the City of Victoria, British Columbia, and the effect of these decisions on the morphology of the city. The study aims to give a generic explanation through time of the planning controls adopted by the City Council before and after town planning legislation emerged in the province. The Minutes of the Meetings of City Council were examined from the incorporation of the city in 1862 to the end of the study period in 1967, as also the Annual Reports of the City, pertinent files of the civic departments, records in the City Archives and the Provincial Archives, and local press reports. In addition, persons involved in the local process of planning were interviewed.
The study reveals that early administrative decisions influenced local morphology by setting aside specific areas for government, church, school, and park purposes, land uses which survived during the 105 years covered by the research. Moreover, municipal legislation, early surveys, the provision of water and sewerage services, and the development of a public transportation system were controls on the pattern of land use. These controls were a prelude to urban planning.
Public reaction against undesirable aspects of t he city-building process encouraged the passage of provincial town planning legislation, followed by city zoning by-laws as a means of controlling local development. The City erroneously used zoning by-laws as an end in themselves instead of as tools to implement a general plan. Further, the Council's repeated amendment of the zoning by-laws resulted in haphazard development and unwarranted mixing of land uses. Throughout, the Council appeared reluctant to encourage orderly growth. Instead of incorporating adequately stated objectives in a legally binding comprehensive plan, the City embarked on a series of projects designed to stem the tide of retail de centralization within the region.
It is concluded from that study that:
1) Gross morphological patterns were the result of early public decisions.
2) Early control legislation and provision of utilities greatly influenced spatial patterns.
3) Development lacked order before the implementation of the first zoning by-law and there was little change subsequently as the zoning by-laws, used to do the work of a general plan, had little or no influence on the city building process.
4) There remained a resistance in the Council against any erosion of its corporate responsibility to control land-use planning within the city boundaries.
5) It appeared easier to undertake projects than to prepare an integrated plan of development. Nevertheless, the quasi-endorsement of two land-use plans prepared by the regional planning board influenced a movement toward systematic development of the city.
Finally, the spatial implications of control measures, which might be introduced under the regional plan, require further investigation, particularly in the urban fringe of the metropolitan region and the surrounding rural area.