Saanich residents got a taste of what 2024 promises in terms of the district’s land-use decisions, as council Monday night zipped through the approval process for 20 new residential units across six development projects.
The approvals, which were for minor variances required to subdivide large lots, accommodate garden suites and to green light the replacement of two single-family homes with 12 townhouses, brought little opposition from the community and had been handled by district staff. All council had to do was provide a final rubber stamp.
Mayor Dean Murdock said while those kinds of applications require council’s approval, they are dealt with by staff and the pace the council moved through them is a result of an improving district machine.
“I think it’s reflective of us tuning up the process so that things do move forward more efficiently,” he said, noting residents can expect to see more projects moving through the district faster — as long as projects conform to the district’s policies they will be moved forward.
That will be key with new regulations being imposed by the province intended to speed up the pace of change and provide more housing.
The province has established housing targets for municipalities such as Saanich — the district must have 440 units completed before October and 4,610 within five years — and introduced legislation to streamline the housing approval process that will eliminate public hearings for smaller developments and allow for more infill housing and multi-units on residential sites.
It means Saanich will have to triple the number of development permits it approves in a typical year.
Murdock said the new regulations, which include allowing up to six units to be established on a single-family lot in some areas, will mean council will see fewer projects on its agenda and eliminate public hearings for many housing projects.
The blanket rezoning policy, which will be in place across the province, means those projects will require only a building permit which can be handled at the staff level.
Murdock said at this point there hasn’t been a lot of movement from the development community on houseplex projects and missing middle housing — small apartment buildings and townhouse projects — that would replace single-family homes on the same site, but there is buzz about the possibility of high-density projects along transit corridors.
“The one that I’ve heard the most interest about is the transit-oriented development area, where the province has allowed for a much higher density and has effectively eliminated the parking requirements,” he said, noting developers have been asking how those regulations will align with Saanich’s official community plan.
He said market forces like high costs and high interest rates could be holding back potential developments at this point, which may be just as well as the district still needs to increase its capacity to handle and expedite land-use applications.
“For what is proposed by the provincial targets and the new rules around what will be permitted in our major centres or in our neighbourhoods, we will need additional capacity, and we continue to advocate to the province to provide financial support for that capacity,” he said.
That means funding for new technology to improve internal processes as well as human resources to do the work.
“We have a good complement of staff. We’re a large municipality, but the reality is for the potential number of applications that we’ll be reviewing, we’re going to need some more people,” he said.
The projects moved forward by council Monday night included development variance permits for 1889 San Pedro Ave., which intends to subdivide to add five new homes on the lot, and development variance permits for 4187 Quadra St., 3959 Burchett Pl. and 368 Gorge Rd. West to subdivide to create a second lot for a new home.
There was also a development permit granted for 4367 Viewmont Ave. to establish a garden suite, and council gave three readings for the rezoning application for 3907 and 3909 Cedar Hill Rd., where there are plans to replace two single-family homes with a 12-unit townhouse.
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