Chilliwack is the “poster child” of B.C. cities for absorbing growth, but some city councillors say they object to the “one-size-fits-all” approach of the new provincial housing legislation.
The housing crisis came up during a roundtable hosted by Nathan Cullen, minister of water, land, and resource stewardship, and Chilliwack MLA Dan Coulter, at the Chilliwack Curling Club on Wednesday (March 20).
Cullen said they were seeking feedback on how the new housing legislation was “landing” in Chilliwack, in its first year of being rolled out across B.C., acknowledging it’s also an election year.
Local council, city staff and business leaders offered feedback on a range of topics including the housing plan to bring more density, and more homes to B.C., faster and more.
Coun. Chris Kloot described the frustration: “I think what Chilliwack feels is that we were the poster child, we absorbed growth and did everything in our power to make sure things would go well, recognizing the need for housing.
“And then with the new housing legislation it kind of felt insulting to us, because we were doing all the right things, making room for housing and all the growth.”
Chilliwack’s phenomenal growth is reflected in the 2021 Census numbers that showed Chilliwack was the second-fastest growing city in Canada behind Kelowna, at the time.
Other provinces have been looking at scaling back immigration targets “in moderation,” Kloot underlined, adding B.C. should consider doing that until “it can catch up.”
Coun. Nicole Read said the one-size-fits-all style to create more housing won’t work for Chilliwack necessarily, and added “that’s where the concern is from our community perspective.”
If Vancouver is where that problem is manifesting, Vancouver is where those changes should be made, Read offered.
One thing Chilliwack has done to comply with the B.C. housing directives was the formal recognition at the February council meeting that the City of Chilliwack will no longer hold public hearings for any residential rezonings consistent with height and density rules in the OCP.
Coun. Bud Mercer said the language about “prohibiting” public hearings under the new legislation was offensive to him, and some of the rules might be “harmful” to what Chilliwack has accomplished because “suddenly an imposed project can happen.”
The change under Bill 44 was the first of several procedural steps for Chilliwack to update its zoning bylaws and OCP accordingly and come into compliance with the new directives.
Cullen replied to acknowledge: “Your point is that the provincial rules, as designed, go across all those scenarios with a blanket approach. Am I getting that right?”
“That is absolutely right,” Coun. Mercer told the minister, adding that it also doesn’t take into consideration all the growth that’s happening on First Nations land around Chilliwack.
The prescriptive changes coming to the local planning frameworks are meant to dovetail with new requirements to allow for increased density in areas currently zoned for single-family or duplex use, especially those in close proximity to transit hubs.
Part of the mandate handed to him from Premier David Eby for the Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship was to “fix permitting,” Cullen underlined, and that process in underway to find ways of speeding up the backlog of 22,000 permits in the queue from various ministries or agencies.
“We’re trying to fix the culture in government to say communication on permitting has to be early, and often, and open,” Cullen said.
Asking questions of the minister were Chilliwack mayor Ken Popove and several city councillors, senior city staff and Chuck Stam from a local architectural firm.
Stam said that he had no problem with any technical reviews and reports that have to go in for approvals, but if there are no obvious “red flags” to give anyone pause, there needs to be a much faster mechanism for approval.
Sometimes there are delays at the provincial level of up to two years, with paperwork sitting on desks that are not staffed properly, he noted. Those delays can add tens of thousands of dollars in costs.
“It’s a case where they submit the reports, and then they disappear for 18 months. That’s the pinch-point,” Stam said.
Coun. Jeff Shields talked about Chilliwack’s inability for the past couple of years to fund its transit expansion, noting if the goal is getting more people out of their cars and onto transit, they need the added funding to fuel the expansion.
The Homes for People plan saw a suite of legislation rolled out from the provincial government in 2023 to enact big changes to the land-use planning framework at the local government level. The premier-led vision will see much more housing built, with more density on single-family lots.
Local governments are required to amend their zoning bylaws by June 30, to permit for either secondary suites or an accessory-dwelling unit on single family lots, or in many places in B.C, three to six units of housing on single family or duplex lots.
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