Victoria is considering pre-zoning areas of the city where provision of affordable housing would allow for increased density.
The measure would be part of a new inclusionary housing and density-bonus strategy designed to help ease what’s seen as a crisis in housing affordability.
“I don’t think there’s anybody in this city who would disagree that we need to pull all the levers that we can to get more rental housing and more affordable rental housing,” said Mayor Lisa Helps, adding that the No. 1 issue for employers in the region is the difficulty finding housing for people who want to work here.
“Everyone needs housing for their employees. That’s what we need right now, so I’m in favour of exploring all options,” Helps said.
According to a staff report, the new zone would provide additional density for affordability or purpose-built rentals. Council’s discretion in approving such applications would be limited to development permit issues such as layout, landscaping and general appearance.
Coun. Ben Isitt said the market economy is not providing affordable housing and an intervention is needed.
“Every project … that has no affordable component, I view that as a missed opportunity,” Isitt said at a recent committee meeting. “I’d rather decline those rezonings and wait until we have a policy like this in place so that [the] lower three-quarters of the population are included in those projects. If they’re not, I don’t think the projects are worth considering.”
Coun. Geoff Young was the lone councillor to disagree with the proposals, noting that the city has been working hard to get consensus on density issues such as building heights in villages and double-row townhouses in developing neighbourhood plans in Gonzales and Fairfield.
“That we’re now going to overlay over that whole thing a superior policy that says, well, if a certain income target for residents is met, we’ll allow increases in those densities, beyond what we’ve been exploring … I think we’re springing something on people that they don’t expect,” Young said.
While councillors endorsed the proposal, they specified that any additional density tied to the policy would have to be within official community plan limits.
The pre-zoning recommendation is part of a suite of policy proposals city staff are to develop and take to stakeholders and the public for consultation.
Other recommendations include:
• Establishing affordable housing targets and levels of affordability that can be used as a guide in negotiating amenity contributions for new developments.
• Prioritizing city objectives for community amenity contributions.
• Developing a framework for consideration of higher densities if they support affordable housing goals.
• Hiring a consultant to update the economic analysis underlying the city’s density bonus policy.
Some are keen to get on with the changes.
Coun. Jeremy Loveday said the changes have been under discussion since the council was elected in 2014.
“If we come up with a policy that delivers housing that people can afford, people will be on side with the policy,” Loveday said.
“I think we need to move forward with this on a priority basis, and I really hope we get this back in as timely fashion as possible.”
