Application. Downtown Revitalisation

Revitalising the downtown core is a long-standing priority of the City of Prince George.^[1]  In its current Official Community Plan (OCP) (Bylaw 8383, 2012), the City’s vision includes a “vibrant downtown.”  This vision is supported by a set of land use objectives and policies (s. 8.3), including the following:

The heart of the city, the downtown functions as the civic and cultural centre of Prince George, containing key cultural, civic, and recreational amenities, offices, shopping, and accommodating significant housing. Buildings may be larger in scale, with a mix of towers and lower forms.

• • Revitalize downtown as the commercial, cultural, and civic heart of the community.
  • Strengthen the sense of place and identity downtown, incorporating natural and cultural elements.
  • Make the downtown more attractive to new residents and businesses.
  • Maintain downtown as the central business district and primary location for offices.
  • Support a diverse, socially integrated population.

For the purposes of this study, ‘downtown’ is defined formally by the Prince George Business Improvement Area, as depicted in Map 1.

Map 1.  Downtown Business Improvement Area, City of Prince George

Major downtown revitalisation efforts have been undertaken in Prince George since the early 1960s with some success; however, the vast majority of revitalisation efforts have either not been implemented or only partially implemented.  A brief chronology of downtown revitalisation initiatives includes the following plans.^[2]

“The Miracle Plan” (1964) – This was an ambitious development proposal that would see a dome being placed over a five-block area in downtown Prince George.  The dome was designed to provide protection from the elements during the City’s harsh, long winters.  While the proposal was derailed at preliminary stages, it nonetheless provided the impetus for a 1965 report, Space Requirements: Central Business District, which identified risks concerning reduced economic vitality in the downtown core, due in part to the newly established Parkwood Mall and Spruceland Shopping Centre.  Despite the report’s recommendations to stringently centralise retail activities, subsequent development would occur to the contrary (i.e., Hart Highway Shopping Centre, Pine Centre Mall, Westgate Commercial).

“The Centrum Plan” (1966)  – Significant features of this plan, which was developed for an estimated population of 140,000, include the transformation of 3rd avenue into a covered shopping boulevard, an elevated monorail from Parkwood Mall to downtown, a convention centre, and zoning for high-rise residential and office buildings.  While the majority of this plan went unrealised, the Centrum Plan significantly influenced the present-day locations of the Bob Harkins Public Library, the Civic Centre, and the Two Rivers Art Gallery.

“The Cadillac Fairview Town Centre Plan” (1980) – From a number of redevelopment proposals, the City selected the Town Centre Plan as best suited to achieve the objectives outlined in the four-volume Central Business District Study (1980).  The Town Centre Plan proposed converting four downtown blocks into a covered, two-storey shopping mall complex, complete with a new town centre.  Due to significant public opposition, the plan was eventually abandoned in favour of an expansion of nearby Parkwood Mall.     

“The City of Prince George Downtown Revitalization Plan” (1992) – This plan represented the combined multi-year efforts of numerous stakeholders operating under the umbrella of the Prince George Region Development Corporation.  Whereas previous plans had been limited chiefly to economic considerations, an important component of the Prince George Downtown Revitalization Plan (PGDRP) was its recognition of the importance of environmental and social values in downtown redevelopment.  While the PGDRP successfully guided the development of the courthouse plaza in 1996, a number of other initiatives recommended in the strategy were vehemently opposed and eventually defeated by downtown business owners.

“Downtown Prince George Concept Plan” (2009) – This planning exercise created a design-based vision for Prince George circa 2035, based on incorporation of eight “Smart Growth” principles.  The Mayor’s Task Force for a Better Downtown was responsible for implementing elements of the concept plan.  With a change in City Council, the Mayor’s Task Force for a Better Downtown was re-branded as Downtown Partnership and functioned as an advisory committee to oversee the development of downtown.  It is no longer active.

Despite the vast inputs of human and financial resources, downtown Prince George has seen limited improvement since the early 1960s.  In 1965, the central business district contained 78% of all retail space available in the City; in 2010, only 42% of retail and office space was within the downtown boundaries; only 1% of the residential housing stocks was within the City’s core.^[3]

In their 2010 report, Neilson-Welch Consulting Inc. identifies several barriers to downtown revitalisation in Prince George, including:

• market conditions, where high construction costs, soft market demand, low population projections, and insufficient lease values make private development of downtown properties an unfeasible venture;
• residential prices, where the costs of developing a single-family dwelling outside of the urban core are not significantly higher than in the central business district;
• peripheral commercial development, where large-scale commercial and office development occurring outside the downtown area have served as anchors for new residential subdivisions;
• public perception, where the visibility of essential social services – and their clientele – create perceptions of downtown Prince George as unsafe and undesirable; and,
• air quality, where downtown Prince George, due to topographic characteristics, is subject to a disproportionate concentration of airborne contaminants from nearby industry.

Since 2010, the downtown area has benefited from new business and residential developments.  These developments were supported by local government regulatory tools and financial incentives, including revitalization tax exemptions for downtown development and for multi-family homes.  Additional financial and regulatory tools available to local governments include.

• Development Cost Charges (DCCs)
• Streamlined Development Approvals
• Density bonusing
• Residential infill development
• Development Permit Areas (DPAs)
• Community Amenity Contributions (CACs)