West Vancouver seeks extension to BC government's housing ultimatum

West Vancouver seeks extension to BC government ultimatum on approving housing policies

Ambleside neighbourhood of West Vancouver. (okephotographs/Shutterstock)

Last Thursday, BC Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon sent a formal notice to the Mayor and Council of the District of West Vancouver warning the municipal government that they have contravened by not aligning their bylaws with the provincial government’s new small-scale multi-family housing legislation.

In accordance to the legislation, all eligible municipal governments across British Columbia were given until the end of June 2024 to enact zoning bylaw changes to enable gentle densification on single-family lots — generally up to four units per lot, and up to six units per lot near frequent public transit.

But in late May 2024, the District Council rejected enabling coach houses and other types of secondary units on a number of eligible single-family lots.

In last week’s notice to Mayor Mark Sager and Council, Kahlon wrote that he is “satisfied that the District of West Vancouver has failed, within the time required under the Local Government Act, to adopt a zoning bylaw” that follows legislation.

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“Public record indicates that District staff brought forward proposed amendments to the District’s zoning bylaw, and that Council chose not to adopt these or any other amendments that would bring the bylaw into alignment with the legislation. The Province is working hard to increase housing supply to ensure communities have the housing that they need, including establishing legislative requirements that will facilitate more small-scale multi-unit housing development,” reads Kahlon’s notice.

Kahlon’s notice dated July 25, 2024, states that under legislation, the District of West Vancouver has exactly 30 days from receiving the notice to enact the required bylaws for the subject lots. This sets an ultimatum for the municipal government until August 24, 2024.

The notice by the Minister further noted that if the municipal government does not amend its zoning as required, the provincial government will directly intervene and override the Mayor and Council by enacting new regulations for the District of West Vancouver, including determining the technical specifics of such regulations.

“The ministerial order may also, in relation to the area, establish the siting, size, dimension, location or type of housing units required,” reads Kahlon’s notice.

In a special session held on Monday afternoon to set a public meeting date over the matter, Council deliberated District staff’s recommendation to set August 19, 2024 as the formal date to review and potentially adopt the required bylaws — just before the legislated deadline.

But after about an hour of deliberations, Council agreed to formally request the provincial government to allow a one-month extension to enable a meeting to be held during the regular Council public meeting on September 23, 2024. It should be noted that by late September 2024, the provincial government will likely be in its pre-election mode ahead of the general election on October 19, 2024.

This extension beyond the deadline is requested because several councillors, who have scheduled vacations during the annual municipal summer break, wish to participate in the decision. This is also further complicated by City policies, whch require a two-week public notice for setting meeting dates.

“I’m in a region of the world that technology has not as yet arrived, so I do not want this meeting on the 19th of August. I want to be present. It is an exceedingly important decision to be made, and I want my independent voice to be heard accordingly,” said councillor Christine Cassidy during today’s meeting.

The District’s elected officials also took issue with the inability to host a public hearing to hear from public speakers over the matter due to the stipulations of the legislation, and suggested that setting a later date for the decision would enable members of the public to informally provide their input, such as by emailing the Mayor and Council.

During today’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.

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)

Councillor Christine Cassidy argued that rezoning the 313 lots would not address issues caused by unprecedented immigration, suggested that the senior governments have created these problems over the decades, and that increasing housing supply will not resolve them.

She was also particularly pointed about the provincial government’s top-down directives to the municipal governments, and expressed concern over the lack of new infrastructure to accommodate the growing population.

“We are being dictated to by the government, which is a socialist government. It is a form of socialism, and that’s now, quite frankly, bordering on communism. They created this problem. They take an inordinate amount of money out of West Vancouver in the school tax, and they don’t give us anything back. For years, we have been asking for a bridge. A lot of people don’t come to this community because of that [Lions Gate] bridge,” said Cassidy.

Both councillors Cassidy and Linda Watt also accused “some in the media and on social media” for accusing the District’s elected officials for having an “elitist attitude” about the matter at hand.

“I don’t know how I’m going to lay the land on this, but I take great exception to the fact of West Vancouver, being deemed in the media to be a privileged community of rich people. We are privileged people. We are very privileged. We are privileged to live in an inordinately gorgeous piece of Mother Nature, the mountains and the water. But most of the people here, at least 80 to 90% of the people who live in this community came in with virtually nothing and made their way up,” continued Cassidy.

Cassidy further asserted that West Vancouver is “not a wealthy community,” based on the median income of households within the Ambleside neighbourhood, and that a significant number of the jurisdictions residents are seniors living on a pension.

“What they’re going to do is they’re going to ruin what we have, what makes this Lower Mainland, which makes this province great, makes this country great. So that’s where I stand, and I don’t appreciate being dictated to by a government,” said Cassidy.

In a news release last week, the provincial government announced that nearly 90% of communities throughout BC have amended their bylaws in accordance to the small-scale multi-family legislation. 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.

The provincial government singled out the District of West Vancouver in the news release for being the “one community” that has “rejected passing bylaw amendments and is currently not in compliance with small-scale multi-unit housing legislation.”

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.

Since late 2023 when Kahlon first formally announced the new sweeping legislation and the June 30, 2024 deadline for local governments to enact their bylaws, there have been grumblings from numerous municipal governments over the impacts to local control over community planning and municipal revenue levels to fund public benefits and infrastructure.

“Quite frankly, it’s frustrating to me to see so many municipalities adopt this when it clearly doesn’t work for them,” said councillor Sharon Thompson, who suggested the provincial government should give the District of West Vancouver a one-year extension to consider the bylaws.

“At the very least, there was a lot of concern about infrastructure costs, about abilities of planning departments. Places like Nelson, BC said this is going to ruin the very charm and character of what brings people to their community… The government comes forward with a heavy handed, broad stroke policy for all the BC municipalities that are each unique and individual in their own right and need sensitive consideration for many of these projects, and no amendments were taken made” after receiving input.

Councillor Nora Gambioli explained that the Council’s unanimous vote in opposition to the bylaw changes in late May 2024 occurred while she was away, noting that she would have voted in favour.

Gambioli adds that she will vote in favour of the bylaw changes during the scheduled late September 2024 meeting to decide the matter.

“I agree that West Vancouver is unique, and I suspect most municipal councillors feel the same way about their municipality. We certainly have a beautiful place to live, and we are very blessed to live here, but I don’t really think we’re that special in the housing arena, and I agree that it’s been a broad brush in terms of this legislation for all municipalities, but we’re really in the same boat as the District of North Vancouver, I’m going to suggest, with traffic, with geography, and they’re doing it, and they’re in compliance,” said Gambioli.

“I think we need to do our part for housing, and we need to comply with this province’s efforts to create more housing. And I will say that I’ve been a part of this gig for 12 years, and for the entire 12 years, we have not done enough for housing. We have not created enough workforce housing, and we have approved things here and there, but it’s been very sporadic.”

Gambioli also reminded her colleagues that municipal governments are “creatures of the province” — entities created by the provincial government. How municipal governments govern themselves, including the bylaws, policies, and strategies they adopt, as well as their very existence, is entirely dictated by the provincial government.

Gambioli also suggested that she would prefer the municipal government to enact the bylaws rather than having the provincial government do it for the District.

“You know, everything is controlled, really, by the province… I personally would much rather have us do it according to our own zoning and guidelines than have the province decide all of that for us. And I believe they will,” added Gambioli.

In a statement to Daily Hive Urbanized earlier today upon inquiry, Kahlon reaffirmed that the provincial government will act on the Mayor and Council’s behalf if necessary.

“The District of West Vancouver has been sent a 30-day non-compliance notice. A Ministerial Order will amend a local government’s zoning bylaw to permit the required unit level density and put some basic site standards, like setback, building height and lot coverage in place until such time as the local government passes their own bylaw amendments that are compliant with the legislation,” stated Kahlon.

“The Province has the authority to issue a ministerial order to enable the density and apply site standards, such as setbacks, height requirements and lot coverage. The Province intends to use that tool if necessary.”

Daily Hive Urbanized made a subsequent inquiry to the Ministry for further comment later in the day following the District’s request for an extension.

During today’s deliberations, some councillors suggested they recently made some headway towards housing supply goals in other ways by approving projects along Taylor Way near Park Royal shopping centre and the new Cypress Village neighbourhood.

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