What it costs
Rounds that are hard to compare
The resubmission arrives as a full new set. Finding what changed means laying two PDFs side by side.
In StudioLink
What you see.
- ✓Each application's rounds
- ✓What changed between them
- ✓The presentation used in chamber
- ✓Neighbour feedback, structured and on the record Coming
Your day
How an application moves through a planning department
If you are a planner, a rezoning often starts before anything is filed: a pre-application meeting where you tell the applicant what policy expects and what the submission must include. Once it arrives, you check it for completeness, circulate it to engineering, parks, transportation, fire and outside agencies, then gather their comments and send them back. The applicant revises and resubmits. Where your municipality has an advisory design panel, the project may go there too.
Then you write the staff report. It summarises policy fit, the referral comments, what changed between rounds and your recommendation, and it goes to committee or council for readings. Since the province's 2023 housing legislation, many residential rezonings in BC that are consistent with the Official Community Plan no longer hold a public hearing. Exceptions and local procedures vary, so check with your municipality. Development permits in a development permit area control form and character rather than use or density, and many councils delegate them to staff.
Council members, meanwhile, have to picture a building from plans and a handful of images. Fewer hearings in some cases means the staff report and the visuals inside it carry more of the load. That is why what applicants show you, and how they show it, matters to your work.
Most applicants want the same thing staff do: a decision based on an accurate picture. Where problems arise, it is usually because the visuals were made for marketing and reused for council, or made early and never updated. A clear request from staff at the pre-application stage, listing what views are needed and how they should be shown, saves everyone a round of revisions. The checklist below is one you can adapt.
What gets in the way
What makes an application harder to review
What it costs
Flattering views
Wide lenses, high cameras, trees at full maturity and missing neighbours make a building look smaller than it will be.
How it’s solved
Our views sit at eye height with the method stated. AI never changes the building; it only handles light, season and life around it.
What it costs
Presentations that fail in chamber
Files that will not open, films that will not play, a laptop swap in front of the public.
How it’s solved
The CityLink presentation theatre (live) runs from one link in the chamber or on a laptop.
What it costs
Council cannot picture the building
Elevations and site plans are hard to read for anyone who does not draw for a living.
How it’s solved
Street-level views and, where useful, a walk-through tour show scale in a way plans cannot.
More →What it costs
Public comment in a dozen formats
Emails, letters, open-house cards and phone notes, each needing to be sorted and summarised.
How it’s solved
Structured neighbour feedback in CityLink is coming. Today, the presentation and each round are on the record.
What it costs
What was shown is not kept
Months later, nobody can say which images council saw on the night.
How it’s solved
The presentation used in chamber stays on the application's record.
What it costs
Marketing images reused as planning evidence
A dusk hero shot with dramatic lighting ends up in the staff report, where it tells council very little.
How it’s solved
We make council views to a different brief: daylight, eye height, context shown, method stated.
More →The people next to you
Who you work between
RoleThey need from youYou need from themOn one record
Applicant and developer
They need from you
Clear requirements early and comments they can act on.
You need from them
Complete submissions and a plain list of changes each round.
On one record
Each round is kept with what changed, so nobody argues about which set is current.
Architect
They need from you
Specific design comments tied to a drawing.
You need from them
Drawings and visuals that agree with each other.
On one record
Visuals come from the same model as the drawings. See for architects.
Consultants
They need from you
Your terms of reference for heritage, shadow and traffic work.
You need from them
Reports that state their method and cite the current set.
On one record
Reports and views sit against a dated version. See for consultants.
Internal departments
They need from you
The current set, not last round's.
You need from them
Referral comments on time and in one place.
On one record
One link to the current round avoids circulating stale attachments.
Council
They need from you
A clear picture of what they are deciding, in the time they have.
You need from them
A presentation that works in the room.
On one record
The presentation theatre runs from one link.
Neighbours and the public
They need from you
To see the building from their own street.
You need from them
Feedback you can summarise fairly.
On one record
Street-level views today; structured feedback is coming.
Advisory design panel
They need from you
Views and materials clear enough to judge design quality in a short meeting.
You need from them
Their advice recorded against the version they saw.
On one record
Each round is kept, so a panel's comment can be traced to the drawings in front of it.
A checklist you can use
What to ask for in a visual package
Swipe to see more →
| Ask for | Why it matters | What good looks like |
|---|---|---|
| A key plan of camera positions | You can stand where the camera stood | Each view numbered and located on a site plan |
| Eye height and lens stated | Height and lens change how big a building looks | Standing eye height and a lens close to human vision |
| Tree size stated | Mature trees can hide a building | Planting shown at a stated age, noted per view |
| Existing neighbours shown | Context is the point of the view | Adjacent buildings modelled or photo-matched |
| Shadow parameters stated | A study without dates and times proves nothing | Dates, times and true north on every sheet |
| Changes since last round | Saves you comparing two full sets | A short list, with before and after where it helps |
| Views made to a planning brief | Marketing images are made to sell, not to inform | Daylight, neutral weather, context shown, no hero lighting |
| Views at the times people use the street | A plaza at noon and a plaza at dusk tell different stories | Times of day stated, chosen for how the space is used |
Questions
Does a rezoning need a public hearing in BC?+
Not always. Since the province's 2023 housing legislation, many residential rezonings in BC that are consistent with the Official Community Plan no longer hold a public hearing. Exceptions and local procedures vary, so check with your municipality. Where a hearing is not held, notice and other steps may still apply.
What is the difference between a rezoning and a development permit in BC?+
A rezoning changes what the zoning bylaw allows, such as use or density. A development permit, in a designated development permit area, controls form and character and cannot change use or density. Many councils delegate development permits to staff.
How can staff tell if a rendering is accurate?+
Ask for camera positions on a key plan, the eye height and lens, and the tree age shown. Compare a view against a site photo from the same spot. An applicant with accurate work will have these answers ready.
What is CityLink?+
CityLink is the part of StudioLink that applicants use to present their application: submission packages, review rounds with what changed, and a council presentation mode, which is live. Structured neighbour feedback is coming.
Can council view a CityLink presentation without installing anything?+
Yes. It runs from a link in the chamber or on a laptop, with no files to email.
What is an advisory design panel?+
It is a group, usually of architects, landscape architects and other professionals, that reviews the design of applications and advises staff or council. Not every municipality has one, and each sets its own terms.
What should a shadow study show?+
Shade cast on neighbours, streets and public space at set dates and times, with true north and the parameters stated. Your municipality may specify the dates. Our guide to rezoning visuals in BC goes further.
Why do some renderings make a building look smaller than it will be?+
Usually a wide lens, a high or distant camera, mature trees in front, or neighbours left out. None of these has to be deliberate, which is why a stated method matters. Asking for eye height, lens and tree age on each view catches most of it.
Can applicants show a building to the public before a hearing or decision?+
Yes, and many do through open houses, project websites and signs on site. Your municipality may set rules for notice and signage, so check your own procedures. Views shown publicly should match what staff are reviewing.
