A few weeks ago North Cowichan and the Chemainus Residents Association co-hosted a session with the aim of showing residents how to renovate in order to provide second units or garden suites on their property.
Mayor Douglas presented this as ‘gentle density’ – an appropriate approach to increasing the amount of residential rental space in North Cowichan. This was consistent with the sensible way this administration has been dealing with housing demand, which has included spot rezoning based on applicant submissions for consideration by council.
Now comes the BC Housing Supply Act. There is much detail therein, but some of the more interesting components:
- four units will be allowed on all residential-zoned properties.
- the Province will provide expectations re: setbacks, height, parking, lot coverage.
- municipalities will update OCPs and zoning bylaws every five years.
- prohibition of public hearings for housing-focused rezonings that are consistent with the OCP.
A statement by the Union of BC Municipalities puts it very diplomatically: ‘a shift towards prescriptive centralized planning comes also with risks and potential unintended consequences.’
A more brutal response might be that the BC government is playing with fire here. The backbone of ‘the American dream’ has always been to work hard to be able to live in one’s own house, complete with garden, privacy, peace and quiet. The BC legislation is upending this concept: Opportunists (not community-minded individuals) will scoop up bargain properties and will build residences (next door to you) with disregard for quality of life and more focus on maximum returns on investment.
This is an overly-dramatic worst-case scenario. It can be avoided if the Province allows municipalities to adopt an overall goal of densification in ways which are sensitive to prevailing local conditions. And, based on observations, we have the administrative talent pool here in North Cowichan to carry this out proficiently.
Peter Ordynec,
Chemainus