Design Manual
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Criteria for the Protection of Environmentally Sensitive Areas
The purpose of this design manual is to help you to improve and protect both the natural and man-made environment. The principles contained in this report will enable you to recognize and respond to the environmentally sensitive portions of your site by employing appropriate design and construction methods. The end result should be to allow for new development yet to protect and enhance the natural environment. Overall, the guidelines should also help reduce the possibility of flooding in Richmond, by increasing vegetation and water retention.
You will need a development permit if your property is defined as an "environmentally sensitive area" (ESA), and if you are planning to subdivide the land or carry out construction that will alter habitat features within the ESA. If you are not engaged in construction or subdivision, but are carrying out other activities which may impact an environmentally sensitive area, you do not need to obtain a development permit, but may wish to use this manual as a guide. To determine if your site is an ESA, refer to the attached Map 1. For more detailed information, inquire at City Hall, or see the City's website. There are also detailed maps on the City's Geographic Information Systems (GIS) website.
The manual provides practical, measurable standards for minimizing human impact on the natural attributes of intertidal, foreshore, and upland sites in Richmond. These design standards are primarily intended for applicants of development permits; however, the techniques could be useful to anybody who is landscaping a site having natural features. The development permit guidelines are adopted by Council in the Official Community Plan and are shown in green. Applicants should follow the guidelines as closely as possible. Any relaxation or interpretation of the guidelines must be justified and spelled out in detail in the development permit report.
