Vancouver council reviews draft goals and policies for 2045 comprehensive plan; debate focuses on pollution mitigation, universal design and sidewalks

City staff on April 7 told the Vancouver City Council they are close to completing the comprehensive plan and invited feedback on the draft goals and policies that will guide land use, climate, housing and economic decisions through 2045.

“My name is Dominique Martinelli, she/her pronouns. I’m a senior planner in our department,” said Dominique Martinelli, who opened the workshop and outlined the two-part schedule: the council reviewed four chapters on April 7 and will return in May to cover five remaining chapters before a public-comment draft is released this summer.

Why it matters: The goals and policies set the framework that staff and elected leaders use for rezoning recommendations, capital investments and grant eligibility. Staff said the draft contains roughly 35 goals and about 15–16 policies at the element level now, and that the public‑comment draft will present the complete set of policies for community review.

Rebecca, a staff planner leading the chapter walkthrough, summarized the elements and several policy directions. On land use she emphasized compact, “15‑minute” neighborhoods and policies to repurpose underutilized land and promote adaptive reuse. On climate she described policies to reduce vehicle…