Two days after the NPA knifed its leader, Mayor Sam Sullivan, Vancouver city council approved his most important policy initiative. On June 10, council approved a revised EcoDensity charter and all but one of its initial actions, despite opposition from more than two dozen neighbourhood groups.

Most of the proposed actions—such as new types of arterial mid-rise buildings, more options for rental secondary suites, and developing options for back-yard and laneway housing—will involve more public discussion and subsequent reports to council before they proceed. However, two actions take effect immediately: rezoning policies for greener buildings and “greener larger sites”.

Council unanimously approved a motion that all rezoning applications for buildings eligible for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program must obtain a Silver designation. These buildings are required to obtain a minimum of three points for optimizing energy performance, and one point each for optimizing water efficiency and storm-water efficiency. All rezonings for LEED–ineligible buildings must achieve a gold rating under the Built Green B.C. program. This policy will also apply to heritage revitalization agreements that lead to increases to densities.

“Over time, green standards and requirements will increase for all buildings,” a staff report states. “It will be important to raise requirements for buildings requiring rezonings and those that do not, in somewhat of a ”˜lock-step’ manner, to ensure a disincentive to rezone is not inadvertently created through too great a difference between the requirements.”

The other action, which was only supported by the NPA caucus, suggests that the city will take a keener interest in district-energy systems that supply heat or electricity to large areas. At the discretion of the city, developers may be required to conduct a business-case analysis by a qualified green-energy consultant to determine the viability of including district-energy systems in their projects. In addition, developers of large sites will be required to have a sustainable-transportation demand-management strategy (meaning figuring out how to reduce vehicle traffic in and out of a community). The city will also require a solid-waste diversion strategy and a sustainable-rainwater management plan. All of these measures apply to rezoning applications filed after May 13.

“Larger sites provide the opportunity for greater green performance requirements than smaller sites or individual buildings,” states the staff report.

The Real Estate Council of British Columbia posted several consent orders this month involving agents who have run afoul of the Real Estate Services Act.

Richmond agent Peter Lawrence Finlay Buchanan was reprimanded for professional misconduct, fined $1,000, and ordered to pay enforcement expenses of $750 for failing to determine the amount of monthly maintenance fees payable by his clients, who were the vendors. Buchanan also failed to prepare a contract “clearly setting out the respective responsibilities of the buyer and the seller with respect to the price to be paid for the property”, the consent order states.

Cranbrook associate broker Barbara Joan Thompson was suspended for 21 days for professional misconduct and ordered to complete disciplinary educational assignments concerning professional ethics and the law regarding agencies. She and Philip Lawrence Jones were held jointly and severally liable for enforcement expenses of $750. Thompson failed to provide her managing broker or her brokerage a copy of a contract of sale of her property to the proposed buyer. She also failed to recommend to the proposed buyer that if this person wanted to buy the property, it should be listed with a brokerage other than the one that employed Thompson.

In addition, Thompson didn’t recommend to the proposed buyer that they obtain independent legal advice regarding the listing of their property. According to the consent order, Thompson also failed to take “reasonable steps to disclose and/or to avoid conflicts of interest”.

Real-estate agent Glen Stephen William Nicoll was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, and he and his employer, Mountain Realty at Big White Ltd., are liable for enforcement expenses of $750 after Nicoll failed to file an accountant’s report with the council by a prescribed date.