Following the City of Victoria’s example, Saanich has taken steps to make it easier for developers to build non-market housing by delegating development permit approvals to staff.
Council directed staff this week to come up with regulatory and policy changes to permit non-market housing providers to build to the upper limit in the Official Community Plan without having to go through the rezoning process, while also empowering staff to approve development permits.
Coun. Zac de Vries said in order to meet a desperate need for housing, the district will have to look at every aspect of its processes to find efficiencies and streamline the path to deliver it.
Mayor Dean Murdock said providing more non-market housing is a priority and finding ways to expedite that is at the top of the to-do list.
“It’s something we hear consistently from people in our communities — we need housing that is affordable,” he said.
The new processes for non-market housing will get those types of units built much more quickly to ensure the community can provide homes that are affordable to people “of all incomes in all stages of life,” Murdock said.
The Saanich changes follow a similar move in Victoria, which created a program that expedites and prioritizes non-market development, moving such applications to the top of the pile.
Saanich will borrow from two of the elements in the program, allowing non-market housing providers to build to the maximum density permitted, and streamlining the process by avoiding the need for council approval.
Murdock said all developers face challenges in delivering housing, particularly the high cost of borrowing money, which can add up while developers wait for municipal approvals.
“We recognize that non-market housing doesn’t have the ability to price-correct for those additional costs” incurred while waiting, he said. “So it’s important for us that we prioritize those non-market homes.”
This week, the province released a housing target for Saanich, which has to build 4,610 homes in the next five years.
“We’re enthusiastic about getting more homes built for more people more quickly, and we are ready, willing and able to work with the province to make that happen,” said Murdock.
But it’s not going to be easy, he said.
“This will considerably up the level of output from Saanich, and that’s going to require new resources and streamlining of our processes.”
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