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Vancouver’s new GM of planning and development: Visionary, bureaucrat, consensus-builder, developer deal-maker, all of above?

July 24th, 2012 · 16 Comments

Brian Jackson doesn’t start his new job as Vancouver’s general manager of planning and development for another month but everyone’s got an opinion already, surprising considering he’s been an under-the-radar planner for many.

My first quick interview with him suggests he’s got loads of personality to unleash on the city, where he happens to already live incidentally. (Yaletown, since 2006, when he moved here from California to work first with IBI on Richmond’s plans and later at Richmond itself.) More on that later, but here’s what others had to say in the first go-round.

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  • Roger Kemble

    Same old, same old!

    Oh well, another pretty face!

    The Greenland glacier had a catastrophic melt down for four days last week that could presage the end of life on earth, so the inscrutable scientific evidence warns, and we are embroiled in criminal LIBOR scandal that could see end of our financial system,

    No matter Vancouver has a new . . . errrr . . . GM of planning and development: . . . manager of development services cum director of planning cum . . . visionary, bureaucrat, consensus-builder, developer deal-maker, all of above?

    Phew are we ever lucky!

    Some wag on this blog, last week, justified his Parisian planning expertise by ludicrously declaring he had lived in gay Paree for one week.

    Phew are we ever lucky!

    I have lived and worked thru Sutton-Brown, Fountain, Spaxman, Fletcher, the infamous quartet (subsequently morphing into the even more infamous duo), Toderian and now Jackson (he’s of my old alma mater so don’t expect too much) . . . and an inordinate stretches with no one in charge.

    Phew are we ever lucky.

    Makes me wonder if the latter isn’t the best . . .

  • Morven

    But will citizens have any say on planning and development in Vancouver?

    We await.
    -30-

  • spartikus

    [Jackson] will be the general manager of planning and development, not just the director of planning

    There are conflicting claims (what a surprise) that this new position is a) the above, which I read as Director of Planning plus additional powers and b) a junior position without the previous powers/responsibilities.

    Could someone clarify?

    Cheers and thanks!

  • Jak King

    I don’t have the bg to say whether he is a good choice or not. However, I AM clear that the city planner should report directly to Council and not have to go through the empire-building City Manager.

  • Doug

    It’s interesting that he’s got 32 years experience which is good. It makes me think that he’s also close to retirement. I worry for the consistency of planning philosophies that are applied to the City and the corporate memory situation.

  • brilliant

    @Roger Kemble-The Greenland ice sheet melt has been documented to happen roughly every 150 years, so no need to put on the Chicken Little suit.

  • Roger Kemble

    brilliant @ #6 . . . I know . . . I know . . .I know . . .

    If you have been following my stuff you will know I ain’t no AGW-ista.

    As for LIBOR! That is reals but no one will do anything about it.

    My point is panics come and go in today’s media . . . and so, evidently, do Vancouver’s directors of planning.

  • Silly Season

    The sense I am getting is that he will be more directly involved with Council.

    This means (even) less DoP autonomy?

    Anyone else got a bead on this?

  • Michael Geller

    I was pleasantly surprised.

    Like Gordon Price, I know Brian from yesteryear and have not had any dealings with him for decades. But I have positive recollections and think Council made a wise decision by bringing in someone who knows the local context, rather than jetting someone in from elsewhere.

    As for the former COPE Councillor’s comments, it’s obvious she hasn’t been to Richmond lately. In recent years it has transformed from a Vancouver bedroom suburb to a city in its own right….albeit an Asian city in some areas 🙂 with a significant amount of transit oriented development.

    While Brian Jackson was just one of many players in the decision making process, I’m told he was influential in many of the planning and policy decisions, including policies related to the delivery of more affordable housing.

    Now as for the consternation by some over his new title, I would point out that other municipalities combine planning and development services and other responsibilities, resulting in various titles….for example:

    Tim Savoie is the Director of Planning and Development Services, Engineering and Operations in Port Moody; Bob Sokol is Director of Planning, Lands and Permits in West Vancouver; Brian Bydwell is the General Manager – Planning, Properties & Permits in North Van District …and so on.

    As Frances points out Brian Jackson was acting General Manager of Planning and Development for the City of Richmond.

    So I, and no doubt many other Fabula readers wish Brian well. He is following in the footsteps of a number of high profile DofP’s into what might best be described as a complex bureaucratic environment. But he has some idea what he’s getting into and given his varied background and reputation for decency, I predict he will do a good job.

  • Michelle

    Michael #9
    You say:
    “and given his varied background and reputation for decency, I predict he will do a good job.”
    Same could be said for his predecessors.
    The only ones who did not see it that way Vision Vancouver, Mayor Roberson and their handpicked administration… FWIW, Brent was not picked by them, so he had to go. QED

  • Andrew Browne

    Looking forward to seeing what positive impact he can have on Vancouver’s continuing efforts to become a more livable and affordable city. In particular, I’m interested to see if he can successfully work with neighbourhoods to plan for moderate and human-scale change (townhomes, rowhomes, 4 storey condo et al) rather than this single detached dwelling / tower in the sky dichotomy we suffer from at present. Landing a successful development is so difficult that when it happens it ends up being very dense – we need to make positive change (i.e. doing the right thing in terms of context) easier for developers to encourage the kind of City we want.

  • Michael Geller

    Andrew Browne…I agree…this report to the Mayor’s affordable housing task force sets out some of the housing options that fit between the single family house and high rise…I’d note that some of these housing forms can be found in Richmond! http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/civicagencies/housing/PrelimRptFormDesign.pdf

  • Adam Fitch

    Andrew, I agree with your hopeful outlook for Vancouver’s future, but to say that “this single detached dwelling / tower in the sky dichotomy we suffer from at present” is a gross exageration.

    Vancouver has more of a mix of densities and more middle density development than most any other city I know of.

    It is too bad that most neighbourhood activist groups do not acknowledge this, or the benefits of density and renewal.

    Hopefully, Brian Jackson can establish better relations with them.

    ‘

  • Adam Fitch

    Since everyone seems to agree that affordability is important for our city, let me ask this question:

    All other thing being equal, if there had been no development in Vancouver over the last 25 years, would Vancouver be more affordable?

  • Adam Fitch

    Further to my previous comments, I hesitate to call it public education about the value of densification and neighbourhood revitalization. It sounds too much like indoctrination.

    How about: increasing planning literacy?

  • West End Gal

    let me be very clear… BJ was hired by THIS administration! BT was fired by THIS administration! Vision Vancouver/ Robby/ Ballem needed a “Yes Mom!” type of planner. They got it! Welcome to the Vancouver centralized planning Era, where the political arm decides and make political decisions, order reports to be written according to their “advice” the Bureaucratic Arm represented now by BJ will take these reports and present them back to them for approval and “insight”… full stop. Vancouver gets screwed… again!
    Thanks a lot, but no. 🙁