qathet Regional District’s planning committee has postponed a suggestion to amend the district’s official community plans (OCP) to increase and improve residential flexibility.
At the January 11 planning committee meeting, Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne submitted an item under new business that the committee direct staff to report back on possible OCP amendments to increase and improve residential flexibility options with the suggestion that the restriction on dwelling units be redefined to be up to 5,000 square feet of residential space.
Gisborne said the item was added to the agenda to stimulate discussion and a conversation among directors.
“The big issue we are all kind of dealing with is the housing crisis,” said Gisborne. “For those of us who own our own homes, we are somewhat protected from the impacts of this crisis, however, the indirect impacts are noticeable and substantial.
“There are a great deal of factors out of the hands of local government. Some factors, however, are in the hands of local government, such as land use planning, zoning bylaws and development approvals. It’s my opinion that there is a problem in this system at a fundamental level.”
Gisborne said a dwelling unit is typically defined as a housekeeping unit used or intended to be used as a domicile by one or more persons, and usually containing cooking, eating, living, sleeping and sanitary facilities. He said it makes no distinction on size, or footprint.
He said in qathet Regional District electoral areas, there are no building permits and very limited zoning bylaws.
“How can this regional district approve more development when we aren’t approving development?” asked Gisborne. “The intent of the motion is to change the OCP policy to better reflect the diversity of housing in rural areas. The provincial government is also changing the landscape, which is one of the reasons that this is so important at this time.”
Gisborne said it seems more logical to regulate based on total square footage or total footprint of residential space. He said he had put forward a starting point of 5,000 square feet, which has come from the provincial ministry of agriculture. He said in 2018, the agricultural land reserve (ALR) regulation stated that each ALR parcel should have one dwelling up to 5,000 square feet.
“The province, through the ALR, has set its expected maximum for the average typical rural farmhouse and this has already been implemented on parcels designated as ALR in our rural areas,” added Gisborne.
Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick said she has some concerns about the item as a possible solution to the housing crisis. She said at the committee of the whole meeting scheduled for later in the day, she was going to ask for a report on what staff believe to be the tools needed to increase the housing supply in the region.
“I don’t know if OCP amendments are going to be part of that solution,” said McCormick. “Until they’ve [staff] had an opportunity to explore it, I don’t know what the right directions are. I would like to see a report back from staff on the more general topic about how to increase housing supply, rather than identify OCP amendments as a means to accomplish that end.”
Electoral Area C director and board chair Clay Brander suggested postponement of Gisborne’s items, based on McCormick’s suggestion about waiting for a staff report on housing shortage solutions at a later meeting.
The committee voted to postpone Gisborne’s item.
