BC government rejects West Vancouver's request for housing vote delay

BC government rejects West Vancouver's request for housing policy vote delay

Ambleside neighbourhood in West Vancouver. (Afshin Sadeghi Lavasani/Shutterstock)

The Government of British Columbia has promptly rejected the District of West Vancouver’s request for a one-month extension to enact bylaws that align with the provincial government’s new small-scale, multi-unit housing legislation.

This has prompted the District to call for a second special meeting on the morning of Wednesday, July 31, 2024 to discuss the next steps.

During Monday afternoon’s first special meeting over the matter, the Mayor and District Council voted to delay the decision of aligning its municipal bylaws with provincial legislation until the regular Council public meeting on September 23, 2024. This amounted to a one-month delay to the provincial government’s ultimatum until August 24, 2024 to enact the necessary bylaws enabling the gentle densification of some single-family lots in West Vancouver.

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District staff had originally recommended to Council a meeting date of August 19, 2024, just five days before the legislated deadline. However, Mayor Mark Sager called Monday’s special meeting shortly after receiving the provincial government’s formal notice dated July 25, which gave the municipal government 30 days to come into compliance.

Council’s decision was driven by the desire to allow all elected officials to participate in the decision, as some councillors had noted existing vacation plans. They also wanted to provide more time for the public to provide informal public input by email and other communications, as legislation prohibits the District from holding a public hearing over the decision.

However, in a statement to Daily Hive Urbanized on Tuesday, BC Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon rejected the extension request made by Council the previous day.

Kahlon noted that while a few communities have been granted extensions in the past, the request from the District of West Vancouver does not fall into the same category of eligible reasons. Out of 188 local, municipal, and regional governments, 162 have to date adopted the legislation’s framework for their bylaws, with another nine communities “actively working to adopt the legislation.

“Some of those communities asked for extensions because of infrastructure related matters and we’re reviewing those,” Kahlon told Daily Hive Urbanized today.

“However, the District of West Vancouver is the only Council that said flat out they don’t want this type of housing in their community. West Vancouver has had the time necessary to make these changes. It’s up to their council to meet the deadline and if they don’t then the Province will have to take the next steps to make these changes.”

This is a reference to Council’s unanimous decision in late May 2024 to reject the required bylaw changes.

The formal notice from the Minister to the District’s Mayor and Council last week stated that if the bylaws are not amended by the 30-day deadline, the provincial government will intervene to make the necessary changes on the behalf of the municipal government, including determining the siting, size, dimensions, location, or type of housing units required.

During Monday’s public meeting, it was revealed by District staff that the provincial government’s requested changes under the notice to align with the small-scale multi-family housing legislation would impact a total of 313 lots across the jurisdiction or 2.8% of all properties within the District of West Vancouver.

The legislation generally up to four units per eligible single-family lot, and up to six units per eligible single-family lot near frequent public transit. This includes coach houses and other types of secondary suites.

A new map created by District staff shows most of the lots in question are located within the Ambleside and Dundarave areas, with smaller pockets elsewhere closer to the municipal border with the District of North Vancouver and within the west side of the jurisdiction at Eagle Harbour and Horseshoe Bay.

district of west vancouver small scale multi family housing legislation

July 2024 map highlighting the 313 properties that are identified by the Government of British Columbia that must be rezoned under the small-scale multi-family housing legislation. (District of West Vancouver)

“The challenge we have as a Province is the same as West Vancouver, that a lot of people are looking for housing they can afford,” continued Kahlon.

“West Vancouver produced its own report that nearly two-thirds of their work force comes from outside of their city. These people would love to be able to live in the city they work in. This is about creating more homes so people can live in the communities they love.”

As of last week, 15 jurisdictions asked for a formal extension on adopting the small-scale multi-family housing legislation beyond the June 30, 2024 deadline, including the City of Coquitlam and the City of North Vancouver.

So far, the provincial government has granted extensions to Greenwood for infrastructure upgrades and to the Northern Rockies Regional District and the District of Wells due to the impacts of wildfires and evacuation orders. Extensions have not been granted to the Township of Langley and the Mount Waddington Regional District, which now have 90 days, as of last week, to update their bylaws. Deadline extensions for other communities are still under consideration.

During the special meeting on Wednesday, July 31, according to the District’s outlined meeting agenda posted today, Council will be asked to consider rescinding its previous decision on Monday to reconvene on September 23, 2024 — a month after the deadline — to debate and vote on the bylaws. Instead, Council is being recommended to reschedule the meeting for August 12, 2024, so that the bylaws can be approved in advance of the deadline.

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