Terrace is located above the Skeena River, amidst the Coast Mountain range. It is strategically placed at the geographic centre of Northwest BC, and is the hub for highway, rail and air transportation routes. As a result, the city is the location for most of the region’s business, retail and government services and has become known as the commercial centre of the Northwest.

Passages in italics are quoted from documents obtained from the City of Terrace.

Downtown Assessment and Evaluation Study, December 1998

• Desired Products
• The Process
• The Visioning and Design Charrette

Formulation of the Downtown Assessment and Evaluation Proposal indicates that the "the call for the proposal was spawned by two main drives. The main push driven by the proposed development of a new Official Community Plan (OCP). The second push arose over concerns that parking was dominating the downtown area creating strip mall like development and limiting the efficient and economical use downtown properties".

City of Terrace

North-West Corridor Development Corporation page for Terrace

Terrace Economic Development Authority

The following information has been extracted from the "Downtown Assessment and Evaluation Study" (December 1998) produced by the City of Terrace.

• Background Research
• Visioning and Design Charrette
• Policy Changes, OCP Amendments
• Design Guidelines

1. Recommendations for changes to existing City bylaws and drafting of amending text to those bylaws which need changing.
2. Recommendations for changes to existing OCP objectives and policies.
3. Development permit guidelines submitted for approval by the City.
4. Mapping showing locations of recommended uses and identifying the area of any downtown revitalization.
5. Any other pertinent data that the consultant deems important.

Background material was collected on site in Terrace by the consulting team. This information was combined with the in-community process, which included information collection, mapping of predetermined features and a design charrette. These findings were presented at a public house on June 25, 1998. Following the charrette, the results were reviewed with municipal staff and in context of existing municipal policies. Recommendations were brought forward and reviewed by staff, were subsequently refined and included in this report. In addition, design guidelines developed to guide the issuance of development permits in the downtown were submitted to the municipality, reviewed in detail, and revised for inclusion in the last section of this report.

The Visioning and Design Charrette
Held on June 16, 1998, with 16 participants (in addition to the three design team members). Participants included downtown business owners, downtown landowners, City Councillors, interest group representatives (Tourism Commission, Chamber of Commerce, Beautification Society) and City Staff. Participants were asked to identify key issues and opportunities to provide a basis for the discussion of a vision and design charrette.

From fourteen short listed issues, five issues were identified by the participants as the most important issues. They are:

(1) Attracting key generators downtown
(2) Better access to downtown from highway
(3) Economic viability;
Better land utilisation;
Streetscape/snow removal
(4) Maintain a viable/vibrant downtown;
Need residential in downtown (mixed use: residential over commercial);
Need a theme/ building concept: buildings linked together; Political will (5) Promoting tourism

The following opportunities were identified in order of most commonly selected:

(1) Build upon road reconstruction
(2) Identify traffic generators
(3) Redevelopment of Curling Rink area
Build upon existing entryways to city
Keep City Hall downtown/build convention centre downtown
(4) Encourage Lakelse 4600 Block redevelopment: mixed use
(5) Increase access to downtown
Build upon an existing downtown

These revitalization strategies also included a proposed new downtown designation.

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