Vancouver City Council Approves Pilot Program For Indoor Arts and Culture Events

Vancouver City Council has taken another step towards streamlining regulations for artists and making it easier to hold arts and culture events. 

The two-year pilot program, approved unanimously by Council on March 12, will:

• Change the City’s zoning to permit indoor arts or cultural events in commercial and industrial areas;
• Exempt arts events from requiring a development permit, reducing excessive costs;
• Create a single-point of contact for event organizers when seeking approvals, avoiding costly delays.

The pilot program will allow sites which are not rated for assembly use in certain zoning districts, such as galleries, studios or warehouses, to legally host two arts/cultural events per month to a maximum to 250 people. Changes to by-laws and to licencing processing will make the application process for one-time or infrequent events less challenging and restrictive.

Upon completion of the pilot's second year, city staff will report on the program's effectiveness and potential to expand it to other types of events. The pilot program is the result of a regulatory review of arts events launched by City Council in 2009.

Click here (pdf) to access the full report.