The District of Saanich has tweaked its strategic plan to accommodate the new housing targets imposed on it by the provincial government.
Council voted to add new actions to the plan’s housing component that will see the district evaluate and respond to the province’s new housing targets and document the district’s progress in response to the province’s order that Saanich reach 4,610 net new homes within five years.
Mayor Dean Murdock said the changes to the plan are fairly minor, but they are an acknowledgment that Saanich is anchoring the provincial mandate within the district’s work plan.
“Much of what’s in that plan is already consistent and complementary to the ministerial order,” he said.
But he said it was important to make the changes as the housing mandate will have a significant impact on the workload for district staff.
According to a Saanich staff report, the province’s new-housing targets, imposed to help alleviate the continuing shortage of affordable housing, require Saanich to triple the number of development permits it approves annually.
Last year Saanich saw 419 new homes started, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
“The strategic plan reflects those major priorities, those areas where staff dedicate a lot of their time and energy. This will certainly be one of those areas,” said Murdock.
Murdock noted the district is pressing the province for additional resources to increase Saanich’s capacity to handle the higher workload expected from more housing developments working through the approval system.
“We’re on board with meeting that challenge or addressing that challenge, but we’re going to need some capacity support to do that so it doesn’t consume other areas where we would also like to continue to focus our our time and attention,” he said.
The strategic plan, approved in September, laid out council’s major priorities and projects for this term; the plan ocuses on housing, climate action, transportation, economic development, community well-being and organizational excellence.
Murdock said the district has already made some progress with new processes and technology upgrades, but acknowledged there will be more to come.
Coun. Colin Plant said residents who may have hoped council would take the province to task for imposing the targets during the debate on the change to the strategic plan Monday night will have to wait another day.
He suggested that may yet come when district staff report back to council later this year on the implications of the housing targets on the district.
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