April 23
Sooke is happily (IMO) not among the score of municipalities on the second "naughty list" of BC communities released today. We were, however, cited among the 47 identified last June in the Housing Supply Act. All CRD and Metro Vancouver municipalities are on that long list -- Langford with its explosive growth included. Sensibly enough, it's not on the new list, and neither is Metchosin, Highlands and View Royal.
What all this means isn't clear -- but one interpretation is that the Province recognizes that Sooke and these other communities are on track with their tailor-made housing targets as per each of our housing needs reports. With close to 1,000 starts completed recently or in the permitting stages here in Sooke (fully 650 of them rentals) and likely 1,000 more in the pipeline, we are well ahead of demand for a growing community that must face the reality of no significant short or even long-term planned upgrades for Highway 14 as confirmed recently by Ministry of Transportation staff.
North Saanich is on the new list of 20, and that will certainly trigger outrage in Deep Cove and Ardmore as the slow-growth lobby that stalled out its latest OCP revs back into action. Neither the Mayor of North Vancouver nor her counterpart in New Westminster are happy about this outcome either, both saying they want to know how the Province will bolster their resultant infrastructure needs. ("I'm calling BS on this priority list," said New West Mayor Patrick Johnstone.)
For the record, the next 20 priority municipalities identified to receive housing targets are: Central Saanich; Chilliwack; Colwood; Esquimalt; Kelowna; City of Langley; Maple Ridge; Mission; Nanaimo; New Westminster; North Cowichan; North Saanich; City of North Vancouver; Port Coquitlam; Prince George; Sidney; Surrey; View Royal; West Kelowna; and White Rock. "This includes some communities who are taking important actions and many who need to do more," said Minister Kahlon.
The first set of 10 BC communities announced on June 1, 2023 (with housing targets in brackets) were:
Rapid housing starts are underway. Example: Saanich Uptown (see District of Saanich's Uptown-Douglas Plan page).
All housing announcement starts are mapped on the Homes for BC website.
All this is arising from the April 3, 2023 release of BC's trendsetting Homes For People Action Plan.
See Housing 101 for my comprehensive (read: exhaustive) blog entry from last spring
Update: March 22
~ Secondary Suite Incentive Program
- 3,000 forgivable grants over three years to cover up to 50% of construction costs up to a maximum of $40k
- first-come applications open on April 17
- Province of BC: Secondary Suites home page
- Home Suite Home: Guidelines on How to Add and Manage a Secondary Suite or Accessory Dwelling Unit in BC (PDF booklet)
~ Form and character for a streamlined permitting future
Ministry of Housing release of RFP for Standardized Housing Design Project (released March 22)
Technical briefing + News release
"The anticipated outcome of the Project is a provincially owned catalogue of standardized, customizable small-scale building designs that local governments, builders, and small-scale developers can employ to help streamline development approval processes. The Contractor will assist the Ministry by producing a minimum of ten (10) small-scale multi-unit housing designs in accordance with the design parameters set out in this RFP.
Produce at least ten (10) designs for the Province that align with the design parameters specified in Appendix D and include the following:
o At least one prime Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) design and two meaningful variations;
o One prime duplex design;
o One prime quadplex design;
o One prime four-unit townhouse design;
o One prime triplex design; and
o At least three additional meaningful variations to be determined with Ministry staff that may include the following typologies (duplex, quadplex, four-unit townhouse or triplex)
The designs must be capable of adaptation to site-specific considerations. A meaningful variation is intended to provide a functional difference. The meaningful variation can be substantially based on the Prime design.
A meaningful variation must include a different bedroom count from the prime design (additional variations are encouraged but not requirements of the scope of work).
Other meaningful variations could include:
• Difference of form and character (e.g. roofline variation for different snow loads)
• Different interior layout (e.g. size or location of particular rooms)
* Different interior or exterior finishes are not considered to be a meaningful variation."
Precedents
* The Vancouver Special
* Plan Book of Ideal Homes (T. Eaton Company, 1946)
* Small House Designs (CMHC, 1954)
* Small House Designs (CMHC, 1965)
* Mail-Order Houses in 1910s/1920s (Canadian Museum of History)
Today's Pioneers
- Williams Lake "Pre-Reviewed Accessory Dwellings" - five pre-reviewed design plans that can be issued for free to builders within the City who have a valid ADU building permit + How To Guide
Feb. 27
* Bill 46 Housing Statutes (Development Financing) Amendment Act, 2023 + FAQ
Introduces optional Amenity Cost Charge (ACC) system province-wide to potentially replace or augment the discretionary Community Amenity Charges (CAC) now charged to new development by local governments.
"ACCs can be collected for a wide variety of amenities including, but not limited to, a community, youth, or senior’s centre; a recreational or athletic facility; a library, a public square. Additional examples of amenities could include community arts spaces, community museums, and streetscape gardens. Like DCCs, ACCs can only be used to fund the capital costs of amenities, which includes planning, engineering, construction, and interests costs attributable to an amenity project.
Bill 46 also introduces new Development Cost Charge categories in addition to the current set of road/sidewalk, wastewater and parks projects.
"Examples of projects that can be included under the new DCC categories include:
BC Builds Announcement (Province of BC, Feb. 13)
"BC Builds, an initiative delivered through BC Housing that leverages government, community and non-profit owned and under-used land to speed up the delivery of housing and help bring costs more in line with what middle-income households earn. All BC Builds projects have a target of middle-income households spending no more than 30% of their income on rent."
Federal Government Contributes $2 Billion to BC Builds (Government of Canada, Feb. 20)
"Combined with the Province’s investment, the $2 billion in low-cost loans, available through the Apartment Construction Loan Program, will help build a minimum of 8,000 to 10,000 additional new homes for the middle class. As more land is secured, thousands more units will be built – fast‑tracking construction and ensuring that more of these homes are available at below-market rates."
UBCM Housing Summit, Feb. 13/14, 2024
- Powerpoint presentations
i.e. CRD Affordable Housing overview + legal issues + population growth.
- "Tacking the Housing Crunch: Outcome of the 2024 Summit" (MLA Canada)
- "BC Housing Reforms Meet Mixed Response Among Mayors" (Vancouver Sun, Feb. 13)
- "Can BC Build Its Way Out of the Housing Crisis?" (Business In Vancouver, Feb. 13)
- "How BC Plans to Build Rental Housing for Middle-Income Canadians" (CBC, Feb. 17)
- "Capacity and Scale Questions Greet New Program" (Victoria News, Feb. 14)
HousingHub Program Overview (BC Housing, Feb. 2024)
Housing Projects Across BC (map)
Local Government Housing Initiatives (Province of BC, updated Feb. 9)
Provincial $51m fund to support local governments adopt housing legislation (Jan. 17 announcement)
Sooke receives $223k from the total distribution "to update housing needs reports, zoning bylaws, development cost charge and amenity cost charge bylaws, and community plans by hiring consultants and staff, and to do research and community engagement"
Red-letter day: Feb. 12, 2024
First District of Sooke rezoning applications without requirement for public hearings ~ Agenda (see pp. 175-216 for the proposed 19 townhomes at the entrance to Sunriver; and pp. 225-272 for the town centre rezoning) + District of Sooke explainer re: new policy and public notices
Pro-Active Planning (Province of BC, Feb. 2024)
"Currently, rezoning processes, including public hearings, for stand-alone housing projects are creating lengthy delays and adding costs. In many cases the housing being discussed is supported or encouraged in the OCP. To speed up the building of homes for people and support pro-active planning, one-off, site-by-site public hearings for rezonings have been phased out for housing projects that are consistent with OCPs (which already have a public hearing).
There will instead be more frequent opportunities for people to be involved in shaping their communities earlier in the process, when OCPs are updated. These opportunities, including a public hearing, provide for more meaningful engagement opportunities for a greater number of community members to participate.
Public hearings will continue to be required whenever local governments update or develop new OCPs or consider rezonings for projects that are not consistent with the OCP. People will also still be able to engage with their local elected officials about housing projects through other channels and forums."
Council moved (Feb. 26) that District staff prepare a Public Participation Policy that will outline these alternate channels and forums for public input above and beyond regularized OCP updates with full public input (refreshed every five years, as per provincial legislation with the first due no later than December, 2025).
These are to include:
- Expanded public comment time (from 10 to 20 minutes) at regular council meetings regarding any item on the agenda, including rezoning applications proceeding without a public hearing. The time alloted may be extended upon majority vote of council (as per Sooke's Council Procedure Bylaw, Section 24)
- A requirement for pre-rezoning public information nights hosted by the developer with matching online materials for anytime viewing (as directed by Sooke's next Development Procedures bylaw ~ an update on the 2011 model to be introduced soon. Open houses are currently optional.)
- Improved and more creative/informative notice of application signage at development sites (also as per the Development Procedures bylaw)
- More community open houses and public engagements, i.e. Coffee With Council, market pop-ups and other events at which the public can bend the ears of staff and council in-person.
- Residents encouraged to write to [email protected] and [email protected] on any subject they wish as is their democratic right
- Informal petitions on any subject. As noted on the BC Government website: "There is no requirement for a local government to take action if a petition is received; however, an informal petition can be a useful tool to bring a local matter to the council or board's attention ... The Community Charter specifies that the full name and residential address of each petitioner must be included on informal petitions to municipal council."
Updates: Late December
* Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing and Transit-Oriented Development Area Scenarios (Province of BC, Dec. 8)
* SSMU Policy Manual and Site Standards (Dec. 7)
* TOD Policy Manual (Sooke is not included among the 52 identified high-transit junctions in BC; on the South Island, these are at the BC Legislature, University of Victoria, Uptown, Victoria General Hospital, and the Royal Oak, Colwood and Langford bus exchanges)
* BC Drafted A Bold Housing Blueprint: The Rest of Canada Should Copy It (Globe & Mail Editorial Board, Dec. 21)
"Change will still take time. An analysis the NDP put out showed most of the new housing would be built in the back half of a decade-long outlook. The estimated tally is at least 216,000 more homes than would have otherwise been constructed. The B.C. analysis also suggested those additional homes, over the next five years, could reduce the price of buying or renting by roughly 9 per cent compared with business as usual. The NDP got the big picture right. It’s also working to get the details right."
* Opinion: Higher Density Means Losing Trees, Gardens and More (Times Colonist, Dec. 21)
* Reflections on BC NDP Housing Policy (Adam Olsen, MLA, Dec. 19). <clip> "I disagree with the BC NDP’s one-size-fits-all approach in Bill 44. It erodes local government democracy and the mass upzoning of vast swaths of British Columbia is non-planning."
* Low-Density Development Carries Much Higher Costs (Trevor Hancock, Dec. 17)
* Chasing Higher Density - But To What End (Ex-North Saanich Mayor Alice Finall, Dec. 16)
* New Legislation Brings Changes to Public Hearings (BC Law Institute, Dec. 15)
* Many Misconceptions In The Debate About Housing (Times Colonist, Dec. 11)
* BC's Dramatic Plan to Tackle Housing Sparks Alarm About Unintended Consequences (Globe & Mail, Dec. 6)
* Former NDP Premier Mike Harcourt Blasts Top-Down Housing Solution (Vancouver Sun, Nov. 30)
* "The Last Public Hearing" - View Royal Town Hall, Nov. 23 -- What We Heard Report (agenda; see pp. 26-113)
* BC Standardized Housing Design Project (Nov. 16)
- "Standardized designs can substantially streamline the permitting process to make it easier for local governments to give building-permit approvals quickly and save builders and homeowners the costs that come from expensive design services." + RFP (deadline: Dec. 12, 2023) ~ "The consultation process will inform the design parameters for up to ten provincial designs for accessory dwelling units and multi-unit buildings up to four units per design that can be accommodated on a single detached lot."
* Ottawa To Launch Pre-Approved Home Design Catalogue (CBC, Dec. 12)
* Bring On the Standardized Housing Catalogue (Globe & Mail, Dec. 18)
* In Praise of Cookie-Cutter Housing Design (Globe & Mail, Dec. 13)
- Small Housing BC + Gentle Density Network
- Small Housing Toolkit (PDF with 10 housing-type case studies). Defined in the glossary: Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ... Basement suite ... Coach homes ... Comprehensive development ... Cottage housing ... Cluster housing ... Detached townhomes ... Efficiency suite ... Granny flat ... Laneway housing ... Lock-off suite ... Mother-in-law suite ... Micro-suite ... Multi-flex family housing ... Pocket Neighbourhood ... Secondary suite
* The Vancouver Special
* Plan Book of Ideal Homes (T. Eaton Company, 1946)
* Small House Designs (CMHC, 1954)
* Small House Designs (CMHC, 1965)
* Mail-Order Houses in 1910s/1920s (Canadian Museum of History)
* The Big Bet On Tiny Homes to Help the Homeless (Vox, Nov. 29)
* Kelowna To Build 120 Tiny Homes (Oct. 2023) + Operators Selected (Dec.)
Original Post: Nov. 15
Following up on MLA Ravi Parmar's op-ed on the BC NDP's new housing policy announcement and its impacts on Sooke, published online last week and likely in this week's newspaper.
Key points I want to make which aren't captured in the MLA's high-level editorial:
i) YES, we need non-profit housing and smaller-footprint, truly affordable market-priced homes and rentals in Sooke. Yet our unique situation as a still small town served by a congested (during peak-hour flows) two-lane (mostly) road doesn't accommodate what, on first exposure, seem to be one-size-fits-all directives from Victoria. (Guarantee: The new regs will surely prove to be more nuanced and flexible than many fear.)
ii) Tough choices ahead: Either we in Sooke recognize our capacity under current circumstances and start planning to consciously/mindfully pump the brakes on our rapid population increases; or we acknowledge that significant, character-changing growth is inevitable to the point where we absolutely require a secondary road/four-lane/transit-upgrade traffic solution. (The message in the current and pending OCPs is that most of us want to retain, to a significant degree, the Sooke we know and love.)
iii) Either way, we require significant road infrastructure funding far exceeding our annual allotment of Canada Community Building Fund dollars from Ottawa, the $5.9 million we received this spring through the province's one-time Growing Communities Fund and other grant sources (which we've capitalized on nicely if unpredictably since 2017). Relying on property taxes and Development Cost Charges alone is insufficient and unfair, as Deputy Mayor Al Beddows told the CBC last week.
iv) Unfair because, as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities reminds us in its Municipal Growth Framework campaign, Canadian municipalities received 16.7 cents of every tax dollar collected in the 1960s. This share has plummeted 50% to 8 to 10 cents today. (The UBCM is doing its part with BC advocacy focused on local-government $$$ needs for attainable housing, community safety and climate change.)
v) Builders across Canada, not just in Sooke as our MLA notes, have famously been frustrated by building permit delays for decades now. Sooke councils have been trying to fix the local system since at least 2012. No local government I'm aware of, including Langford with its mythic and misleading 48-hour permit turnarounds, is immune to these systemic delays.
vi) Regarding building timelines, the District is in the home stretch of a permit approval review process that will make a dramatic difference to how applications are both accepted (only when 100% complete) and processed expeditiously once a radically overhauled system is implemented at the District next year. (Expect to see the final Urban Systems report late this year or early next); and
vii) Sooke is, in fact, well ahead on its housing needs targets with as many as 800 units (rental and owner-occupied) approved for construction and likely 1,000 more in discussion/process/pre-approval design stages. To repeat the old refrain: How much more can we accommodate before our quality of life here suffers irreparable harm?
First, a recap of recent first-read legislation and announcements from Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon
* Bill 46 Housing Statutes (Development Financing) Amendment Act, 2023
* Bill 44 Housing Statutes (Residential Development) Amendment Act, 2023
* Bill 35 Short-Term Rental Accommodation Act, 2023
* Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) + Changes to Local Government Act
+ Technical Briefing (Nov. 1) + Update (Nov. 7)
"In most areas within municipalities of more than 5,000 people, these changes will also require bylaws to allow for:
- three to four units permitted on lots currently zoned for single-family or duplex use, depending on lot size; and
- six units permitted on larger lots currently zoned for single-family or duplex use and close to transit stops with frequent service.
- Municipalities covered by the legislation (population 5k-plus) may permit additional density if desired, but cannot have bylaws that allow for fewer permitted units than the provincial legislation."
Directions to local governments:
"- All local governments: Update housing needs reports (HNR) using a standard method, for a more consistent, robust understanding of local housing needs over 20 years; (logical given every housing report I've seen is markedly unique)
- Municipalities: Plan for and engage communities on these needs in official community plans (OCP), updated every five years to reflect the most recent HNR so communities can plan together; (previous best-practice was every 10 years)
- Municipalities: Align zoning bylaws with the OCP and HNR to pre-zone for the 20-year total amount of housing their communities need; and
- All local governments: Eliminate redundant processes and one-off public hearings that slow down housing projects that already fit with community plans, and instead make best use of more frequent opportunities for people to be involved in shaping their communities earlier in the processes." (read Simon Fraser University's Renovate the Public Hearing reports for the pros/cons and possibilities)
"Timelines
* More Homes Near Transit Hubs + Policy Framework (Nov. 8)
- Target: 100,000 new units to be built in TOD (Transit Oriented Development) areas in 30 BC municipalities
(unidentified to date, so the are-we/aren't-we question is unanswered. Our relatively modest transit hub is currently outside Village Foods, and is to be relocated to east of the library on Wadams Way as Lot A is developed. If we are to be included, then 10-storey buildings are to be allowed within 400 meters of the hub vs. our current maximum of six storeys anywhere within the town centre north of Sooke Rd.)
* Short-Term Residential Accommodations Act (Bill 35) - Oct. 16, 2023
* New rules for short-term rentals (Province of BC)
* Homes For People Action Plan (April 3, 2023)
- See Housing 101 for my comprehensive (read: exhaustive) blog entry from this spring
The Sooke context ...
* The red-tape issues that Sooke builders and our larger-scale out-of-town developers (based in Langford, Saanich, Campbell River, Vancouver, Richmond and elsewhere) face in working with the District have, in point of fact, existed here and everywhere else in BC and Canada as a whole for many years/decades.
* A solution to BC-wide permitting inefficiencies has been sought ever since Premier Horgan's newly formed government recognized that the province was facing a housing crisis after decades of inaction by Ottawa and the BC Liberals. Its Homes For BC housing affordability masterplan (2017) was followed a year later by the Development Permit Process Approvals Review (final report, 2019). The latter identified needed reforms to the system and was based on consultation with UBCM staff, local government officials, builders and developers, non-profit housing providers, academics and community representatives.
* The recommendations were backed by the UBCM's provincially funded Local Government Development Permit Approvals Program, which since 2021 has funded permit process reviews in 43 BC local governments.
* Sooke is one of these 43. In our case, we received $494k to undertake a top-to-bottom review and finance needed e-application software upgrades. A draft report from Urban Systems was sent to council last month and an information session attended by councillors Beddows, Pearson and myself followed. The final report will be released late this year or likely in early 2024. Existing bylaws, processes and statistics have been reviewed. Capacity levels, organizational structure and existing policies were discussed at length with District staff. Members of the building community (Sooke Builders Association included) were consulted at length. Best practices were adopted from sister reviews undertaken -- in a dozen cases by Urban Systems itself -- in other similar-sized local governments. And a full set of action items/recommendations are delivered so as to kickstart implementation ASAP in 2024.
* Without sharing any spoilers pending the final report, Urban's Development Application Processes Assessment and Recommendations summary report smartly addresses the key issues identified in BC's 2019 review, namely:
- incomplete or poor-quality submissions by applicants;
- increased complexity of building requirements;
- inconsistent development permit guidelines;
- contradictory advice from different local-government departments;
- lack of transparency on the status of development applications;
- lack of consistency of requirements between neighbouring local governments
* Question I ask again: Was there ever a golden era of fair and speedy building permit turnarounds as some seem to believe? Langford continues to be applauded for its so-called 48-hour permit approvals, but what's misunderstood (as I comprehend it) is that this speedy guarantee only kicks in following untold months of necessary groundwork by applicants and municipal staff; it requires submission of a complete building permit application, site plans, construction drawings, geotech review, professional engineering and other reports, and completion of all City of Langford approvals. That done, two working days is a breeze.
* Reality Check: The District is short-staffed and employees are hard to find here as in other local governments and employment sectors. Still to be hired is a Chief Administrative Officer, for most notable instance. The planning and building departments currently lack multiple key staff. The help-wanted list includes a Director of Planning (with this week's news that Matthew Pawlow has taken a position with the Ministry of Housing), Chief Building Official, a Building Official II, and a Planning and Development Administrator. Good news: Manager of Community Planning Jayden Riley has been hired recently. And former CBO Stan Dueck is pitching in part-time to help with building inspections.
* Two questions that District staff will bring forward for discussion with council in months ahead ...
1. What does the Province's Nov. 1 announcement mean for our pending Official Community Plan? Should we go ahead as intended once the new CAO is hired ... or wait until the promised June/July 2024 delivery of "OCP/zoning review/update instructions provided to municipalities"?
2. Likewise, the Local Government Act requires a new Housing Needs Assessment every five years. Our first-time 2019 version is due for an update a year from now. Directions on how to proceed with it will flow from Victoria in early 2024.
* "Patience, grasshopper, all is coming ..." (Source: Anonymous)
Feedback
* BC housing legislation impact on democracy (Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch video, Nov. 17)
* Taking Stock of the BC NDP's Housing Blitz (The Tyee, Nov. 16 ... see comments)
* BC Housing Bills Transformational But Will Take Time (CBC, Nov. 11)
* BC United's Kevin Falcon Responds (Rob Shaw, Nov. 12)
* View Royal Mayor Sid Tobias Schedules Last Public Hearing On Housing - Times Colonist (Nov. 11, 2023)
* View Royal Wants Audit of BC Housing Legislation - Times Colonist (Nov. 10, 2023) + request letter
* BC Government Mulls Legislation to Stop Giving Housing Cash Directly to Munis - Vancouver Sun (Nov. 8)
* All Housing Theme Is All Consuming - Times Colonist (Nov. 8, 2023)
* Public Hearings Curbed In Housing Bill - Les Leyne, Times Colonist (Nov. 4, 2023)
* Burnaby Mayor Slams Housing Policy - Vancouver Sun (Nov. 4, 2023)
* Deputy Mayor Al Beddows' interview with CBC's Gregor Craigie (Nov. 3, 2023)
* Housing Bill Oversight Could Cost Municipalities Tens of Millions, say Mayors - Vancouver Sun (Nov. 3, 2023)
* Conservative Party of BC Platform incl. housing
- Urban Planning (Wikipedia)
- Young Anderson Bulletins
* Local Government and the Provincial Housing Agenda (Nov. 24)
* Province Introduces Significant Renovations (Nov. 3)
* Bill 44 Housing Statues (Residential Development) Amendment Act (Nov. 10)
"One of the significant impacts of Bill 44 will be the reduced scope for local governments to require amenities and amenity contributions in connection with Bill 44’s mandatory zoning requirements. Bill 46 attempts to alleviate this by amending the Local Government Act: (i) to expand the scope for development cost charges to provide funding for fire protection facilities, police facilities and solid waste and recycling facilities and (ii) to allow for the imposition of new “Amenity Cost Charges” (ACCs)."
- British Columbia Real Estate Association: The Province Goes Big On Housing Policy (Nov. 23)
- Urban Development Institute: Taxing Growth - Analysing the Taxes and Fees on New Development (PDF)
Related from this blog ...
- Building/Developing Sooke (May 30, 2023) ... I remain wholly confident that a productive new relationship with the revamped Sooke Builders Association will develop in time as everyone patiently, professionally moves forward as the new system gets established next year and proves itself to the point that understandable frustration, anger and past trauma begins to diminish.
- Our Up-Sooke-Sized Building Boom (August 26, 2022) ... Zoning and permits are in place, but ground remains resolutely unbroken in a number of situations for reasons I'm not privy to ... inflation, supply chains, labour shortages and the high cost of building anything/everything, most likely.
- Sooke's Evolving Road, Sidewalk and Roundabout Network (January 20, 2021) ... Town-centre portions of Otter Point and Church now complete; roundabout work well underway for Church/Throup with the Charters rebuild to follow next year.
- X Homes + Y People + Z Cars = ? (December 18, 2018) ... Still the defining equation in Sooke, I figure.
Screenshots from the Ministry of Housing Technical Brief ...
Sooke is happily (IMO) not among the score of municipalities on the second "naughty list" of BC communities released today. We were, however, cited among the 47 identified last June in the Housing Supply Act. All CRD and Metro Vancouver municipalities are on that long list -- Langford with its explosive growth included. Sensibly enough, it's not on the new list, and neither is Metchosin, Highlands and View Royal.
What all this means isn't clear -- but one interpretation is that the Province recognizes that Sooke and these other communities are on track with their tailor-made housing targets as per each of our housing needs reports. With close to 1,000 starts completed recently or in the permitting stages here in Sooke (fully 650 of them rentals) and likely 1,000 more in the pipeline, we are well ahead of demand for a growing community that must face the reality of no significant short or even long-term planned upgrades for Highway 14 as confirmed recently by Ministry of Transportation staff.
North Saanich is on the new list of 20, and that will certainly trigger outrage in Deep Cove and Ardmore as the slow-growth lobby that stalled out its latest OCP revs back into action. Neither the Mayor of North Vancouver nor her counterpart in New Westminster are happy about this outcome either, both saying they want to know how the Province will bolster their resultant infrastructure needs. ("I'm calling BS on this priority list," said New West Mayor Patrick Johnstone.)
For the record, the next 20 priority municipalities identified to receive housing targets are: Central Saanich; Chilliwack; Colwood; Esquimalt; Kelowna; City of Langley; Maple Ridge; Mission; Nanaimo; New Westminster; North Cowichan; North Saanich; City of North Vancouver; Port Coquitlam; Prince George; Sidney; Surrey; View Royal; West Kelowna; and White Rock. "This includes some communities who are taking important actions and many who need to do more," said Minister Kahlon.
The first set of 10 BC communities announced on June 1, 2023 (with housing targets in brackets) were:
- City of Abbotsford: 7,240 units
- City of Delta: 3,607 units
- City of Kamloops: 4,236 units
- District of North Vancouver: 2,838 units
- District of Oak Bay: 664 units
- City of Port Moody: 1,694 units
- District of Saanich: 4,610 units
- City of Vancouver: 28,900 housing units
- City of Victoria: 4,902 units
- District of West Vancouver: 1,432 units
Rapid housing starts are underway. Example: Saanich Uptown (see District of Saanich's Uptown-Douglas Plan page).
All housing announcement starts are mapped on the Homes for BC website.
All this is arising from the April 3, 2023 release of BC's trendsetting Homes For People Action Plan.
See Housing 101 for my comprehensive (read: exhaustive) blog entry from last spring
Update: March 22
~ Secondary Suite Incentive Program
- 3,000 forgivable grants over three years to cover up to 50% of construction costs up to a maximum of $40k
- first-come applications open on April 17
- Province of BC: Secondary Suites home page
- Home Suite Home: Guidelines on How to Add and Manage a Secondary Suite or Accessory Dwelling Unit in BC (PDF booklet)
~ Form and character for a streamlined permitting future
Ministry of Housing release of RFP for Standardized Housing Design Project (released March 22)
Technical briefing + News release
"The anticipated outcome of the Project is a provincially owned catalogue of standardized, customizable small-scale building designs that local governments, builders, and small-scale developers can employ to help streamline development approval processes. The Contractor will assist the Ministry by producing a minimum of ten (10) small-scale multi-unit housing designs in accordance with the design parameters set out in this RFP.
Produce at least ten (10) designs for the Province that align with the design parameters specified in Appendix D and include the following:
o At least one prime Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) design and two meaningful variations;
o One prime duplex design;
o One prime quadplex design;
o One prime four-unit townhouse design;
o One prime triplex design; and
o At least three additional meaningful variations to be determined with Ministry staff that may include the following typologies (duplex, quadplex, four-unit townhouse or triplex)
The designs must be capable of adaptation to site-specific considerations. A meaningful variation is intended to provide a functional difference. The meaningful variation can be substantially based on the Prime design.
A meaningful variation must include a different bedroom count from the prime design (additional variations are encouraged but not requirements of the scope of work).
Other meaningful variations could include:
• Difference of form and character (e.g. roofline variation for different snow loads)
• Different interior layout (e.g. size or location of particular rooms)
* Different interior or exterior finishes are not considered to be a meaningful variation."
Precedents
* The Vancouver Special
* Plan Book of Ideal Homes (T. Eaton Company, 1946)
* Small House Designs (CMHC, 1954)
* Small House Designs (CMHC, 1965)
* Mail-Order Houses in 1910s/1920s (Canadian Museum of History)
Today's Pioneers
- Williams Lake "Pre-Reviewed Accessory Dwellings" - five pre-reviewed design plans that can be issued for free to builders within the City who have a valid ADU building permit + How To Guide
Feb. 27
* Bill 46 Housing Statutes (Development Financing) Amendment Act, 2023 + FAQ
Introduces optional Amenity Cost Charge (ACC) system province-wide to potentially replace or augment the discretionary Community Amenity Charges (CAC) now charged to new development by local governments.
"ACCs can be collected for a wide variety of amenities including, but not limited to, a community, youth, or senior’s centre; a recreational or athletic facility; a library, a public square. Additional examples of amenities could include community arts spaces, community museums, and streetscape gardens. Like DCCs, ACCs can only be used to fund the capital costs of amenities, which includes planning, engineering, construction, and interests costs attributable to an amenity project.
Bill 46 also introduces new Development Cost Charge categories in addition to the current set of road/sidewalk, wastewater and parks projects.
"Examples of projects that can be included under the new DCC categories include:
- Fire protection facilities: fire halls, training facilities, staff quarters, and maintenance facilities.
- Police facilities: Municipal jails, cells, and holding facilities, training facilities, and community policing centres.
- Solid waste and recycling facilities: landfills, recycling depots and processing facilities, and compose facilities.
BC Builds Announcement (Province of BC, Feb. 13)
"BC Builds, an initiative delivered through BC Housing that leverages government, community and non-profit owned and under-used land to speed up the delivery of housing and help bring costs more in line with what middle-income households earn. All BC Builds projects have a target of middle-income households spending no more than 30% of their income on rent."
Federal Government Contributes $2 Billion to BC Builds (Government of Canada, Feb. 20)
"Combined with the Province’s investment, the $2 billion in low-cost loans, available through the Apartment Construction Loan Program, will help build a minimum of 8,000 to 10,000 additional new homes for the middle class. As more land is secured, thousands more units will be built – fast‑tracking construction and ensuring that more of these homes are available at below-market rates."
UBCM Housing Summit, Feb. 13/14, 2024
- Powerpoint presentations
i.e. CRD Affordable Housing overview + legal issues + population growth.
- "Tacking the Housing Crunch: Outcome of the 2024 Summit" (MLA Canada)
- "BC Housing Reforms Meet Mixed Response Among Mayors" (Vancouver Sun, Feb. 13)
- "Can BC Build Its Way Out of the Housing Crisis?" (Business In Vancouver, Feb. 13)
- "How BC Plans to Build Rental Housing for Middle-Income Canadians" (CBC, Feb. 17)
- "Capacity and Scale Questions Greet New Program" (Victoria News, Feb. 14)
HousingHub Program Overview (BC Housing, Feb. 2024)
Housing Projects Across BC (map)
Local Government Housing Initiatives (Province of BC, updated Feb. 9)
Provincial $51m fund to support local governments adopt housing legislation (Jan. 17 announcement)
Sooke receives $223k from the total distribution "to update housing needs reports, zoning bylaws, development cost charge and amenity cost charge bylaws, and community plans by hiring consultants and staff, and to do research and community engagement"
Red-letter day: Feb. 12, 2024
First District of Sooke rezoning applications without requirement for public hearings ~ Agenda (see pp. 175-216 for the proposed 19 townhomes at the entrance to Sunriver; and pp. 225-272 for the town centre rezoning) + District of Sooke explainer re: new policy and public notices
Pro-Active Planning (Province of BC, Feb. 2024)
"Currently, rezoning processes, including public hearings, for stand-alone housing projects are creating lengthy delays and adding costs. In many cases the housing being discussed is supported or encouraged in the OCP. To speed up the building of homes for people and support pro-active planning, one-off, site-by-site public hearings for rezonings have been phased out for housing projects that are consistent with OCPs (which already have a public hearing).
There will instead be more frequent opportunities for people to be involved in shaping their communities earlier in the process, when OCPs are updated. These opportunities, including a public hearing, provide for more meaningful engagement opportunities for a greater number of community members to participate.
Public hearings will continue to be required whenever local governments update or develop new OCPs or consider rezonings for projects that are not consistent with the OCP. People will also still be able to engage with their local elected officials about housing projects through other channels and forums."
Council moved (Feb. 26) that District staff prepare a Public Participation Policy that will outline these alternate channels and forums for public input above and beyond regularized OCP updates with full public input (refreshed every five years, as per provincial legislation with the first due no later than December, 2025).
These are to include:
- Expanded public comment time (from 10 to 20 minutes) at regular council meetings regarding any item on the agenda, including rezoning applications proceeding without a public hearing. The time alloted may be extended upon majority vote of council (as per Sooke's Council Procedure Bylaw, Section 24)
- A requirement for pre-rezoning public information nights hosted by the developer with matching online materials for anytime viewing (as directed by Sooke's next Development Procedures bylaw ~ an update on the 2011 model to be introduced soon. Open houses are currently optional.)
- Improved and more creative/informative notice of application signage at development sites (also as per the Development Procedures bylaw)
- More community open houses and public engagements, i.e. Coffee With Council, market pop-ups and other events at which the public can bend the ears of staff and council in-person.
- Residents encouraged to write to [email protected] and [email protected] on any subject they wish as is their democratic right
- Informal petitions on any subject. As noted on the BC Government website: "There is no requirement for a local government to take action if a petition is received; however, an informal petition can be a useful tool to bring a local matter to the council or board's attention ... The Community Charter specifies that the full name and residential address of each petitioner must be included on informal petitions to municipal council."
Updates: Late December
* Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing and Transit-Oriented Development Area Scenarios (Province of BC, Dec. 8)
* SSMU Policy Manual and Site Standards (Dec. 7)
* TOD Policy Manual (Sooke is not included among the 52 identified high-transit junctions in BC; on the South Island, these are at the BC Legislature, University of Victoria, Uptown, Victoria General Hospital, and the Royal Oak, Colwood and Langford bus exchanges)
* BC Drafted A Bold Housing Blueprint: The Rest of Canada Should Copy It (Globe & Mail Editorial Board, Dec. 21)
"Change will still take time. An analysis the NDP put out showed most of the new housing would be built in the back half of a decade-long outlook. The estimated tally is at least 216,000 more homes than would have otherwise been constructed. The B.C. analysis also suggested those additional homes, over the next five years, could reduce the price of buying or renting by roughly 9 per cent compared with business as usual. The NDP got the big picture right. It’s also working to get the details right."
* Opinion: Higher Density Means Losing Trees, Gardens and More (Times Colonist, Dec. 21)
* Reflections on BC NDP Housing Policy (Adam Olsen, MLA, Dec. 19). <clip> "I disagree with the BC NDP’s one-size-fits-all approach in Bill 44. It erodes local government democracy and the mass upzoning of vast swaths of British Columbia is non-planning."
* Low-Density Development Carries Much Higher Costs (Trevor Hancock, Dec. 17)
* Chasing Higher Density - But To What End (Ex-North Saanich Mayor Alice Finall, Dec. 16)
* New Legislation Brings Changes to Public Hearings (BC Law Institute, Dec. 15)
* Many Misconceptions In The Debate About Housing (Times Colonist, Dec. 11)
* BC's Dramatic Plan to Tackle Housing Sparks Alarm About Unintended Consequences (Globe & Mail, Dec. 6)
* Former NDP Premier Mike Harcourt Blasts Top-Down Housing Solution (Vancouver Sun, Nov. 30)
* "The Last Public Hearing" - View Royal Town Hall, Nov. 23 -- What We Heard Report (agenda; see pp. 26-113)
* BC Standardized Housing Design Project (Nov. 16)
- "Standardized designs can substantially streamline the permitting process to make it easier for local governments to give building-permit approvals quickly and save builders and homeowners the costs that come from expensive design services." + RFP (deadline: Dec. 12, 2023) ~ "The consultation process will inform the design parameters for up to ten provincial designs for accessory dwelling units and multi-unit buildings up to four units per design that can be accommodated on a single detached lot."
* Ottawa To Launch Pre-Approved Home Design Catalogue (CBC, Dec. 12)
* Bring On the Standardized Housing Catalogue (Globe & Mail, Dec. 18)
* In Praise of Cookie-Cutter Housing Design (Globe & Mail, Dec. 13)
- Small Housing BC + Gentle Density Network
- Small Housing Toolkit (PDF with 10 housing-type case studies). Defined in the glossary: Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ... Basement suite ... Coach homes ... Comprehensive development ... Cottage housing ... Cluster housing ... Detached townhomes ... Efficiency suite ... Granny flat ... Laneway housing ... Lock-off suite ... Mother-in-law suite ... Micro-suite ... Multi-flex family housing ... Pocket Neighbourhood ... Secondary suite
* The Vancouver Special
* Plan Book of Ideal Homes (T. Eaton Company, 1946)
* Small House Designs (CMHC, 1954)
* Small House Designs (CMHC, 1965)
* Mail-Order Houses in 1910s/1920s (Canadian Museum of History)
* The Big Bet On Tiny Homes to Help the Homeless (Vox, Nov. 29)
* Kelowna To Build 120 Tiny Homes (Oct. 2023) + Operators Selected (Dec.)
Original Post: Nov. 15
Following up on MLA Ravi Parmar's op-ed on the BC NDP's new housing policy announcement and its impacts on Sooke, published online last week and likely in this week's newspaper.
Key points I want to make which aren't captured in the MLA's high-level editorial:
i) YES, we need non-profit housing and smaller-footprint, truly affordable market-priced homes and rentals in Sooke. Yet our unique situation as a still small town served by a congested (during peak-hour flows) two-lane (mostly) road doesn't accommodate what, on first exposure, seem to be one-size-fits-all directives from Victoria. (Guarantee: The new regs will surely prove to be more nuanced and flexible than many fear.)
ii) Tough choices ahead: Either we in Sooke recognize our capacity under current circumstances and start planning to consciously/mindfully pump the brakes on our rapid population increases; or we acknowledge that significant, character-changing growth is inevitable to the point where we absolutely require a secondary road/four-lane/transit-upgrade traffic solution. (The message in the current and pending OCPs is that most of us want to retain, to a significant degree, the Sooke we know and love.)
iii) Either way, we require significant road infrastructure funding far exceeding our annual allotment of Canada Community Building Fund dollars from Ottawa, the $5.9 million we received this spring through the province's one-time Growing Communities Fund and other grant sources (which we've capitalized on nicely if unpredictably since 2017). Relying on property taxes and Development Cost Charges alone is insufficient and unfair, as Deputy Mayor Al Beddows told the CBC last week.
iv) Unfair because, as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities reminds us in its Municipal Growth Framework campaign, Canadian municipalities received 16.7 cents of every tax dollar collected in the 1960s. This share has plummeted 50% to 8 to 10 cents today. (The UBCM is doing its part with BC advocacy focused on local-government $$$ needs for attainable housing, community safety and climate change.)
v) Builders across Canada, not just in Sooke as our MLA notes, have famously been frustrated by building permit delays for decades now. Sooke councils have been trying to fix the local system since at least 2012. No local government I'm aware of, including Langford with its mythic and misleading 48-hour permit turnarounds, is immune to these systemic delays.
vi) Regarding building timelines, the District is in the home stretch of a permit approval review process that will make a dramatic difference to how applications are both accepted (only when 100% complete) and processed expeditiously once a radically overhauled system is implemented at the District next year. (Expect to see the final Urban Systems report late this year or early next); and
vii) Sooke is, in fact, well ahead on its housing needs targets with as many as 800 units (rental and owner-occupied) approved for construction and likely 1,000 more in discussion/process/pre-approval design stages. To repeat the old refrain: How much more can we accommodate before our quality of life here suffers irreparable harm?
First, a recap of recent first-read legislation and announcements from Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon
* Bill 46 Housing Statutes (Development Financing) Amendment Act, 2023
* Bill 44 Housing Statutes (Residential Development) Amendment Act, 2023
* Bill 35 Short-Term Rental Accommodation Act, 2023
* Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) + Changes to Local Government Act
+ Technical Briefing (Nov. 1) + Update (Nov. 7)
"In most areas within municipalities of more than 5,000 people, these changes will also require bylaws to allow for:
- three to four units permitted on lots currently zoned for single-family or duplex use, depending on lot size; and
- six units permitted on larger lots currently zoned for single-family or duplex use and close to transit stops with frequent service.
- Municipalities covered by the legislation (population 5k-plus) may permit additional density if desired, but cannot have bylaws that allow for fewer permitted units than the provincial legislation."
Directions to local governments:
"- All local governments: Update housing needs reports (HNR) using a standard method, for a more consistent, robust understanding of local housing needs over 20 years; (logical given every housing report I've seen is markedly unique)
- Municipalities: Plan for and engage communities on these needs in official community plans (OCP), updated every five years to reflect the most recent HNR so communities can plan together; (previous best-practice was every 10 years)
- Municipalities: Align zoning bylaws with the OCP and HNR to pre-zone for the 20-year total amount of housing their communities need; and
- All local governments: Eliminate redundant processes and one-off public hearings that slow down housing projects that already fit with community plans, and instead make best use of more frequent opportunities for people to be involved in shaping their communities earlier in the processes." (read Simon Fraser University's Renovate the Public Hearing reports for the pros/cons and possibilities)
"Timelines
- December 2023 – SSMUH policy manual and site standards provided to local governments. (Done)
- January 2024 – Housing Needs Report instructions provided to local governments.
- January/February 2024 – Details announced for $51 million funding allocation.
- June 30, 2024 – Local governments must have updated their bylaws to accommodate SSMUH requirements
- June/July 2024 – OCP/zoning review/update instructions provided to municipalities.
- Jan. 1, 2025 (date subject to regulation) – Local governments must have completed their interim HNR.
- Dec. 31, 2025 (date subject to regulation) – Municipalities must have completed their first review and update of their OCPs and zoning bylaws (based on interim HNR)."
* More Homes Near Transit Hubs + Policy Framework (Nov. 8)
- Target: 100,000 new units to be built in TOD (Transit Oriented Development) areas in 30 BC municipalities
(unidentified to date, so the are-we/aren't-we question is unanswered. Our relatively modest transit hub is currently outside Village Foods, and is to be relocated to east of the library on Wadams Way as Lot A is developed. If we are to be included, then 10-storey buildings are to be allowed within 400 meters of the hub vs. our current maximum of six storeys anywhere within the town centre north of Sooke Rd.)
* Short-Term Residential Accommodations Act (Bill 35) - Oct. 16, 2023
* New rules for short-term rentals (Province of BC)
* Homes For People Action Plan (April 3, 2023)
- See Housing 101 for my comprehensive (read: exhaustive) blog entry from this spring
The Sooke context ...
* The red-tape issues that Sooke builders and our larger-scale out-of-town developers (based in Langford, Saanich, Campbell River, Vancouver, Richmond and elsewhere) face in working with the District have, in point of fact, existed here and everywhere else in BC and Canada as a whole for many years/decades.
* A solution to BC-wide permitting inefficiencies has been sought ever since Premier Horgan's newly formed government recognized that the province was facing a housing crisis after decades of inaction by Ottawa and the BC Liberals. Its Homes For BC housing affordability masterplan (2017) was followed a year later by the Development Permit Process Approvals Review (final report, 2019). The latter identified needed reforms to the system and was based on consultation with UBCM staff, local government officials, builders and developers, non-profit housing providers, academics and community representatives.
* The recommendations were backed by the UBCM's provincially funded Local Government Development Permit Approvals Program, which since 2021 has funded permit process reviews in 43 BC local governments.
* Sooke is one of these 43. In our case, we received $494k to undertake a top-to-bottom review and finance needed e-application software upgrades. A draft report from Urban Systems was sent to council last month and an information session attended by councillors Beddows, Pearson and myself followed. The final report will be released late this year or likely in early 2024. Existing bylaws, processes and statistics have been reviewed. Capacity levels, organizational structure and existing policies were discussed at length with District staff. Members of the building community (Sooke Builders Association included) were consulted at length. Best practices were adopted from sister reviews undertaken -- in a dozen cases by Urban Systems itself -- in other similar-sized local governments. And a full set of action items/recommendations are delivered so as to kickstart implementation ASAP in 2024.
* Without sharing any spoilers pending the final report, Urban's Development Application Processes Assessment and Recommendations summary report smartly addresses the key issues identified in BC's 2019 review, namely:
- incomplete or poor-quality submissions by applicants;
- increased complexity of building requirements;
- inconsistent development permit guidelines;
- contradictory advice from different local-government departments;
- lack of transparency on the status of development applications;
- lack of consistency of requirements between neighbouring local governments
* Question I ask again: Was there ever a golden era of fair and speedy building permit turnarounds as some seem to believe? Langford continues to be applauded for its so-called 48-hour permit approvals, but what's misunderstood (as I comprehend it) is that this speedy guarantee only kicks in following untold months of necessary groundwork by applicants and municipal staff; it requires submission of a complete building permit application, site plans, construction drawings, geotech review, professional engineering and other reports, and completion of all City of Langford approvals. That done, two working days is a breeze.
* Reality Check: The District is short-staffed and employees are hard to find here as in other local governments and employment sectors. Still to be hired is a Chief Administrative Officer, for most notable instance. The planning and building departments currently lack multiple key staff. The help-wanted list includes a Director of Planning (with this week's news that Matthew Pawlow has taken a position with the Ministry of Housing), Chief Building Official, a Building Official II, and a Planning and Development Administrator. Good news: Manager of Community Planning Jayden Riley has been hired recently. And former CBO Stan Dueck is pitching in part-time to help with building inspections.
* Two questions that District staff will bring forward for discussion with council in months ahead ...
1. What does the Province's Nov. 1 announcement mean for our pending Official Community Plan? Should we go ahead as intended once the new CAO is hired ... or wait until the promised June/July 2024 delivery of "OCP/zoning review/update instructions provided to municipalities"?
2. Likewise, the Local Government Act requires a new Housing Needs Assessment every five years. Our first-time 2019 version is due for an update a year from now. Directions on how to proceed with it will flow from Victoria in early 2024.
* "Patience, grasshopper, all is coming ..." (Source: Anonymous)
Feedback
* BC housing legislation impact on democracy (Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch video, Nov. 17)
* Taking Stock of the BC NDP's Housing Blitz (The Tyee, Nov. 16 ... see comments)
* BC Housing Bills Transformational But Will Take Time (CBC, Nov. 11)
* BC United's Kevin Falcon Responds (Rob Shaw, Nov. 12)
* View Royal Mayor Sid Tobias Schedules Last Public Hearing On Housing - Times Colonist (Nov. 11, 2023)
* View Royal Wants Audit of BC Housing Legislation - Times Colonist (Nov. 10, 2023) + request letter
* BC Government Mulls Legislation to Stop Giving Housing Cash Directly to Munis - Vancouver Sun (Nov. 8)
* All Housing Theme Is All Consuming - Times Colonist (Nov. 8, 2023)
* Public Hearings Curbed In Housing Bill - Les Leyne, Times Colonist (Nov. 4, 2023)
* Burnaby Mayor Slams Housing Policy - Vancouver Sun (Nov. 4, 2023)
* Deputy Mayor Al Beddows' interview with CBC's Gregor Craigie (Nov. 3, 2023)
* Housing Bill Oversight Could Cost Municipalities Tens of Millions, say Mayors - Vancouver Sun (Nov. 3, 2023)
* Conservative Party of BC Platform incl. housing
- Urban Planning (Wikipedia)
- Young Anderson Bulletins
* Local Government and the Provincial Housing Agenda (Nov. 24)
* Province Introduces Significant Renovations (Nov. 3)
* Bill 44 Housing Statues (Residential Development) Amendment Act (Nov. 10)
"One of the significant impacts of Bill 44 will be the reduced scope for local governments to require amenities and amenity contributions in connection with Bill 44’s mandatory zoning requirements. Bill 46 attempts to alleviate this by amending the Local Government Act: (i) to expand the scope for development cost charges to provide funding for fire protection facilities, police facilities and solid waste and recycling facilities and (ii) to allow for the imposition of new “Amenity Cost Charges” (ACCs)."
- British Columbia Real Estate Association: The Province Goes Big On Housing Policy (Nov. 23)
- Urban Development Institute: Taxing Growth - Analysing the Taxes and Fees on New Development (PDF)
Related from this blog ...
- Building/Developing Sooke (May 30, 2023) ... I remain wholly confident that a productive new relationship with the revamped Sooke Builders Association will develop in time as everyone patiently, professionally moves forward as the new system gets established next year and proves itself to the point that understandable frustration, anger and past trauma begins to diminish.
- Our Up-Sooke-Sized Building Boom (August 26, 2022) ... Zoning and permits are in place, but ground remains resolutely unbroken in a number of situations for reasons I'm not privy to ... inflation, supply chains, labour shortages and the high cost of building anything/everything, most likely.
- Sooke's Evolving Road, Sidewalk and Roundabout Network (January 20, 2021) ... Town-centre portions of Otter Point and Church now complete; roundabout work well underway for Church/Throup with the Charters rebuild to follow next year.
- X Homes + Y People + Z Cars = ? (December 18, 2018) ... Still the defining equation in Sooke, I figure.
Screenshots from the Ministry of Housing Technical Brief ...
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