BC Provincial Government Housing Policies 2023

[idunno]

The tear continues! https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023HOUS0158-001798

New standardized home designs for ADUs and up to 4-unit homes, ready for next summer. Cool!

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by idunno

The tear continues! https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023HOUS0158-001798

New standardized home designs for ADUs and up to 4-unit homes, ready for next summer. Cool!

Ravi Kahlon sure seems like he's on track to getting his name in the footnotes of BC history; We'll just see if he ends up being our Baron Haussmann or our Robert Moses.

Either way, a lot of stuff is getting torn down.

[logan5]

Developers first choice to build is the CoV, so with so much land about to become available, we are going to see an explosion in population.

[bardak]

Really hoping that there will be a few designs for prefab multiplexes. Imagine if demolition, site preparation, delivery and assembly could all be done in a few weeks. I know it is so much easier said than done but at least it could be a possibility.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by bardak

Really hoping that there will be a few designs for prefab multiplexes. Imagine if demolition, site preparation, delivery and assembly could all be done in a few weeks. I know it is so much easier said than done but at least it could be a possibility.

The old Vancouver Specials were plans to completion in a little over 2 months. Imagine having that turnaround again. Hopefully no more arguments about whether there's enough construction labour to build things!

[GMD]

Originally Posted by logan5

Developers first choice to build is the CoV, so with so much land about to become available, we are going to see an explosion in population.

Areas which have restricted development the most will have the most pend up demand and see the biggest rush, in comparison with other areas (eg Coquitlam, North Langley) where supply has mostly kept pace with demand.

[logan5]

Do BRT stations get the same treatment as Skytrain stations?



https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/tran...ning-finalized

[bardak]

Originally Posted by logan5

Do BRT stations get the same treatment as Skytrain stations?

I don't know I hope they would at least be have the same considerations as bus "exchanges" but preferably they would be treated like Skytrain stops.

[bardak]

On another note the folks over at City Hall Watch have come to the conclusion that every bus stop will be considered a "bus exchange" (A position that not even the most optimistic YIMBY has not come to) and that the province is going to bulldoze the entirety of Vancouver's single family housing.

[GenWhy?]

Originally Posted by bardak

On another note the folks over at City Hall Watch have come to the conclusion that every bus stop will be considered a "bus exchange" (A position that not even the most optimistic YIMBY has not come to) and that the province is going to bulldoze the entirety of Vancouver's single family housing.

What's hilarious is that guy (is that Brian Palmquist still?) was going off about the Province's latest moves for more housing around transit / SkyTrain when the City already released their City Plan that calls for the same density in the same areas. it's just that Vancouver Staff needs their Area Plans a lot quicker. We've not event started on the Villages areas yet, for instance.

[Changing City]

There's a new DP application for 7790 Cambie. It's in the 400 - 800m station zone, so they could wait for 3.00 FSR and less parking, but they're not. It was rezoned in 2014, the old bungalow demolished in 2017 and there was a DP in 2018, and then the site sat empty.

Presumably it now has a new owner, and there's a new architect, more units, and 21 parking spaces on two levels for 35 condos, (2 for visitors).

[logan5]

The area where the Millennium Line and the Expo Line start to converge towards Commercial Broadway has the potential to be one massive high density zone in the CoV.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by logan5

The area where the Millennium Line and the Expo Line start to converge towards Commercial Broadway has the potential to be one massive high density zone in the CoV.

It should also be an office node as well.

[Migrant_Coconut]

The Main-Nanaimo segment is free of viewcones, after all...

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by logan5

The area where the Millennium Line and the Expo Line start to converge towards Commercial Broadway has the potential to be one massive high density zone in the CoV.

Only 30 years too late, and counting.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by officedweller

It should also be an office node as well.

Yes, now it makes more sense than ever to start developing Broadway/Commercial as an office district.

[whatnext]

Speculation and vacancy tax expanded to more communities:

B.C. government expands speculation tax to 13 more municipalities
Property owners will need to declare for the first time in January 2025
CBC News · Posted: Nov 22, 2023
The B.C. government is expanding its speculation tax to 13 new municipalities in a move it says will help deliver more housing to people living across the province.

Finance Minister Katrine Conroy and Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon made the announcement during a media event on National Housing Day on Wednesday.

The speculation and vacancy tax will be applied to the following municipalities:

Vernon, Coldstream
Penticton, Summerland
Lake Country, Peachland
Courtenay, Comox, Cumberland
Parksville, Qualicum Beach
Salmon Arm
Kamloops

According to a release from the province, residential property owners in the new communities will need to declare for the first time in January 2025 based on how they used their property in 2024...

...Conroy said Wednesday that Lake Country in the Okanagan Valley was found to have the highest rate of empty homes when staff were researching what regions to expand the tax to. She also said the majority of municipal leaders who are affected by the expansion asked for it....

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...-tax-1.7036563

[Sheba]

NDP housing bill ‘undermines 10 years of urban planning’: Langley Township mayor

A Metro Vancouver municipality is pushing back against one of the BC NDP’s signature housing bills, warning it threatens to undermine a decade of urban planning.

At issue is the NDP government’s proposed Bill 44, which would force cities to allow up to four units on a standard residential lot.

The measure is part of a package of proposed housing legislation aimed at addressing the housing crisis and currently making its way through the legislature poised to fundamentally reshape how B.C. cities grow.

But the bill represents a “one-size-fits-all” approach out of step with long-established community plans, according to Township of Langley Mayor Eric Woodward.

...

Without the necessary infrastructure in place, he said those numbers are not realistic, and that he’ll ask council to scrap the neighbourhood plans at an upcoming meeting.

...

But Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon splashed cold water Tuesday on any exemptions for the municipality.

“(The Township of Langley) doesn’t need to make those changes — Metro Vancouver in their own reports have highlighted that building medium density is actually more cost effective for the infrastructure that already exists, so this will allow housing to be built with less investments needed for infrastructure,” he said.

...

[logan5]

A Metro Vancouver municipality is pushing back against one of the BC NDP’s signature housing bills, warning it threatens to undermine a decade of urban planning.

Yes, inadequate urban planning needs to be undermined. Municipal governments have been derelict in their duties.

When are we going to see some preliminary plans? I'm pretty sure ABC will go above the minimum 5 FSR/20 stories, but how far above that will they go. Given their positive view of what Burnaby has done, I predict some towers above 800 feet are coming to a Skytrain station near you. Hopefully a rewrite of some of the Broadway subway stations, such as Mt. Pleasant, where there are no view cone restrictions east of Main.

[Firebrand]

Originally Posted by logan5

Yes, inadequate urban planning needs to be undermined. Municipal governments have been derelict in their duties.

I think what Woodward is implying here is that its schools have not been catching up with the amount of housing that's being built (SD35 has the most portables per capita than any other school district, though SD36 has more by raw numbers). I do think that the BC NDP would need to put more capital funding on more schools and expanding existing ones rather than implementing half-measures like adding more portables, some of which are not air conditioned.

That being said, Woodward has been incredibly obtuse on denying multiplexes next to a skytrain station, yet he is fine having two high rises next to farmland.