Fort St. John council to revise development permit areas across city

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Fort St. John is almost halfway through redoing its Zoning Bylaw after numerous guideline updates. 

During meetings on March 23rd for the City of Fort St. John council, Charly Caproff, a city planner, provided an update on the municipality’s ongoing Zoning Bylaw. 

According to Caproff, the municipality has been working to update the Zoning Bylaw originally adopted on December 8th, 2025 in several phases. 

The bylaw is being adjusted to revise which areas are given which development permit area (DPA) designations in the city’s Official Community Plan, and staff have worked to streamline the new version and “encourage high-quality development activity in Fort St. John.”

Specifically, new and revised guidelines will be reflected in the new bylaw for the following DPAs:

• Downtown 
• General commercial 
• Highway and service corridor 
• Multiple-family residential 
• Parkwood Southlands 

“Improving community accessibility for seniors and those with disabilities emerged as a community priority during public engagement for the Official Community Plan,” the report stated. 

“The goal is to create guidelines that incorporate accessible design principles; improve the provision of amenity space for multi-family residential developments; encourage high-quality, attractive residential and commercial developments; and create visual interest along [Highway 97], encouraging travellers to stop in Fort St. John.”

In her presentation, Caproff explained the tentative timeline of the project sees the Zoning Bylaw amendment undergoing extensive open house and online public engagement sessions from April to June, with final changes being formatted by the end of May.

On Monday, June 22nd, the bylaw amendment is expected to be included in a council meeting agenda, when a public hearing will be scheduled if approved by the council. 

On July 13th, pending approval at the public hearing, the council is expected to adopt the bylaw and give it its three readings. 

To see the complete report, see below.