More homes are coming to the rapidly growing East Vancouver community of Norquay Village.

On December 15, Vancouver city council took a step toward the creation of a new zoning area within the neighbourhood.

The new district will allow the development of four-storey apartment buildings between planned taller buildings of eight to 16 floors along Kingsway and lower residential buildings of up to 3.5 storeys behind the apartments.

The creation of the zone will be subject to a public hearing next year, and it enjoys community support, according to a staff report.

The community has seen many changes since 2010, when council approved the Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan, which lays out a long-term vision for the area along and around Kingsway between Gladstone and Killarney streets.

Skyway Tower, a 12-storey condo and four-storey mid-rise development at 2669 Kingsway, was built in 2014.

Also along Kingsway, at the former Canadian Tire store location, excavation work is under way for the massive Kensington Gardens project. The Westbank Projects Corp. development will consist of three 14-storey condo towers, three mid-rise buildings, townhouses, and retail spaces.

In June, the city received an application to rezone 2395–2443 Kingsway for two buildings of 12 and four storeys.

Based on information made available by Vancouver planning staff, as of September 2015 the city had a total of 108 applications for a variety of housing types in other zoning districts in Norquay. In addition to single-family homes, these areas allow a variety of housing forms, such as multiple small homes, duplexes, townhouses, and row houses. The city has issued 73 permits for these projects.

Local resident Joseph Jones keeps watch on what’s happening in his neighbourhood through his Eye on Norquay blog.

The retired UBC librarian has tangled with city hall and developers over questions of whether Norquay is getting a fair shake when it comes to planning and development issues.

Community activism is often a lonely and thankless pursuit, but with respect to the planned apartment zone, Jones is pleased that his perspective on the matter was reflected in the direction set out by city planners.

“I would take some joy in pointing out that, contrary to stereotype, this is the opposite of NIMBY [not in my back yard]. It is saying in this area, it is appropriate to have greater density,” Jones told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview.

On the topic of bringing in four-storey apartments, Jones observed that city planners listened to residents who were concerned about the original plan to include stacked town homes in the proposed zoning district.

“We are happy that the city stepped back from forcing stacked townhouses into this area,” Jones said.

Town homes typically fetch higher prices than condo units, and developers stood to earn more under the initial plan.

In a report to council, Kent Munro, assistant director of planning with the city, noted there were concerns that putting stacked town homes in the proposed apartment zone would limit housing options for seniors and people with mobility issues, because these don’t have elevators.

Munro also reported that city staff have echoed community concerns that building these townhouses would not contribute much to increasing the number of dwellings in the apartment district.

In his report that was included in the December 15 agenda of council, Munro said that stacked townhouses are already permitted in another part of Norquay that comprises 29 percent of the land in the neighbourhood.

The city planner also stated that the planned zone represents only 10 percent of the land in Norquay and is the “only place (aside from Kingsway) where four-storey apartments are likely to develop”.

As Jones pointed out, there will be more apartments than there would have been if the city had not listened to concerns about reduction in the zoning area for apartments.

“We are happy with the result, and we don’t want to cause any problems,” Jones said. “We’d like to see this go through as it is.”