City council isn’t keen on the provincial government legislating density into Nanaimo – especially only a year after a new city plan was put in place.
Councillors, at a meeting Monday, Nov. 20, voted to send a letter to all B.C. MLAs as well as the Union of B.C. Municipalities essentially asking for an exemption from the legislation for municipalities that can demonstrate they have a plan to meet decades of housing needs.
The B.C. government, to address the housing supply’s ‘missing middle,’ has brought forward legislation that would allow three to six units on single-dwelling parcels of land in the growth containment boundaries of municipalities with more than 5,000 people.
Coun. Tyler Brown, who made the motion at this week’s meeting, said there are “highly problematic” portions of the province’s legislation, including potential impacts on infrastructure such as sewer and water systems and roads.
“It also makes our OCP that we just developed potentially needing to be re-developed,” he said. “I largely think that’s unfair when our OCP has put in a fair amount of thought with respect to transportation, with respect to sewer and water infrastructure, recreation facilities, school sites … that work should be welcomed by the province because it’s in line with their policy goals, it’s in line with good city-building practice and we did that work to direct that growth.”
Brown told the News Bulletin that the draft amendment included in the correspondence suggests exemptions for municipalities that can show they’ve planned for 20 years of housing growth, and said that time frame aligns with new provincial requirements for housing needs reports.
“That will ensure that municipalities, from both their infrastructure planning and the zoning in place, are unlocking at least 20 years of supply for pre-zoned housing,” Brown said.
He said the province’s proposed legislation assumes the “lowest common denominator – the municipalities [that] the province is feeling challenged with,” and isn’t needed in places like Nanaimo.
His fellow councillors agreed, voting unanimously to send the correspondence. Coun. Janice Perrino said the province’s density legislation could be good in some areas and terrible in others, and Mayor Leonard Krog said it can’t hurt for Nanaimo to voice its opinion on the legislation.
Coun. Paul Manly said he wants some exemptions to the legislation and said he’s heard other municipalities express concerns, as well, regarding the impacts on infrastructure needs and even health care services.
“It can’t be a catch-all,” he said. “It’s not going to work for this community and it’s not going to work for other communities.”
Coun. Erin Hemmens said Brown’s suggested amendment is bang on, “particularly in light of having a brand-new OCP and recognizing that this legislation would pull us backwards.”
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