Rezoning and development permit visuals serve planners, advisory design panels, council and neighbours. They are ordered by the developer, but shaped by the planning consultant, the architect and sometimes a heritage consultant. The work starts before the application, when early views help test the scheme with staff, and continues through each review round to the council meeting.
Process varies by municipality and has changed in BC in recent years. Many residential rezonings that are consistent with an official community plan no longer go to a public hearing, while others still do. Staff reports, design panels and council still rely on images. Check with your municipality early about what it expects: view locations, shadow study dates and times, and file formats.
A high, wide-angle view makes a building look smaller or more open than it will feel from the sidewalk, and staff or neighbours discount the whole package.
We use eye-height views from real, recorded positions with normal lenses, photo-matched to site photography.
More →A building shown alone on a white background can't answer questions about the neighbours.
We model the surrounding context accurately, using site capture where needed, so the fit is visible.
More →After a revision, nobody can quickly show council what changed in response to staff comments.
CityLink keeps each round with what changed and why, so before-and-after is one click.
More →Packages bounce off email limits, and the version on the clerk's laptop is out of date.
The CityLink presentation theatre runs from one link in the chamber or on a laptop.
More →Comments arrive by email, letter and phone, and are hard to summarize fairly.
Structured neighbour feedback in CityLink is coming. Today we keep the visuals and round history on the record.
More →With the planning consultant and staff, fix the view locations that matter: approaches, adjacent homes, heritage frontages and protected views.
Drawings (CAD, Revit, SketchUp or PDF), the site survey, landscape plan and finish schedule, plus site photos with recorded camera positions.
Neighbouring buildings, grades and trees are modelled so the scheme sits in its real setting.
The model is aligned to each photograph so the building appears at its true size and position.
Shadows are run for the dates and times the municipality specifies, often around the equinoxes and solstices.
The package is assembled for staff, the design panel and council, and presented from CityLink.
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| Visual | What it shows | Who relies on it |
|---|---|---|
| Eye-height street view | The building as a pedestrian or neighbour will see it | Council, neighbours, planners |
| Photo-matched montage | The model placed into a real site photograph at true scale | Planners and design panels |
| Context aerial | Massing against the surrounding blocks | Staff and council |
| Shadow study | Shadows cast at set dates and times | Planners, neighbours |
| Heritage-context view | Scale, rhythm and materials beside heritage buildings | Heritage consultants and staff |
| Before-and-after | What changed between review rounds | Council and staff |
Views that answer staff's actual concerns.
The staff comments and the list of required views.
Comments and view requests sit on the same record as the images, round by round.
Views showing scale, rhythm and materials next to heritage buildings.
The frontages and character elements that matter.
Heritage views are reviewed alongside the architect's markups, so both see the same image.
Accurate, comparable images between rounds.
Clear guidance on what they will accept.
Each round is kept, so staff can compare versions without asking for old files.
Revisions reflected quickly between rounds.
Updated drawings.
The model updates once and every view in the package follows.
The context model and building built for council carry into marketing renderings, film and the web tour. The approved design at council is the design buyers see, which removes a common source of mismatch. For more on what staff and council look for, read rezoning visuals in BC.
Yes. We build the views they need to show fit and character.
A presentation link runs in the chamber or on a laptop, with no files to email.
It varies by municipality. Most ask for street-level views from agreed points, context showing neighbours, and often shadow studies. Ask staff early for their list.
A set of images or diagrams showing the shadows a building casts at set dates and times of year. Municipalities specify the dates and hours, so check with yours.
Not always. Provincial changes mean many residential rezonings consistent with an official community plan no longer hold one. Check with your municipality.
A rendering where the 3D model is aligned to a real photograph of the site, so the building appears at its true scale and position.
Yes. The CityLink presentation theatre runs from one link in the chamber or on a laptop.
Structured neighbour feedback is coming. Today CityLink holds the submission rounds and runs the council presentation.
Yes. We build the views they need to show fit and character next to heritage buildings.
