COUNCIL REPORT: OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN AMENDMENT BYLAW NO. 1156, 2025

TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COUNCIL REPORT

TO: Council
DATE: September 15, 2025
FROM: Stirling Scory, RPP, MCIP, Senior Planner
MEETING DATE: October 7, 2025

OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN AMENDMENT BYLAW NO. 1156, 2025

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 811, 2011, Amendment Bylaw No. 1156, 2025 be introduced and given first and second reading, and that a public hearing be scheduled.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to introduce Official Community Plan Amendment Bylaw No. 1156, 2025 for consideration of first and second reading. The proposed amendments to the Town’s Official Community Plan (OCP) will ensure alignment with the Town’s 5- and 20-year housing need calculated in the Town’s 2024 Interim Housing Needs Report (IHNR) and provide housing policies that address each of the six classes of housing need identified in the Housing Need Report (HNR) by December 31, 2025. The amendments also include the addition of a policy to encourage the provision of commercial or public use space in mixed-use developments four-storeys or greater.

BACKGROUND:

In October 2024, Council endorsed the OCP review and update and subsequently awarded a contract to Urban Systems in December of 2024. The update was to be completed in three phases, with the first phase to include a review of the vision statement and goals, land use designations, land use and housing policies, and special planning areas. Phase 1 is scheduled for completion prior to December 31, 2025, to comply with the provincial housing legislation deadline. The proposed amendments align with the scope of work identified in Phase 1 of the OCP update.

Phase 2 of the OCP review and update will be completed between October 2025 and September 2026, and will include a general update to policies, the regional context statement, and the implementation strategy. Phase 3 is to review the development permit guidelines and may begin in 2027.

Phase 1

Updates to the OCP and the content required or permitted to be included are regulated under the Local Government Act (LGA). Section 473.1 of the LGA outlines the requirements that local governments must meet, including alignment of the OCP with the Housing Needs Report by December 31, 2025. The following amendments must be completed:

1. Establish statement and map designations for the area covered by the plan to provide at least 20-year total number of housing units required to meet anticipated housing needs; and
2. Establish housing policies respecting each class of housing need in the housing needs report, including affordable housing, rental housing, special needs housing, seniors housing, family housing, shelters, and housing in close proximity to transportation infrastructure that supports walking, bicycling, public transit or other alternative forms of transportation.

At the Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting on September 9, 2025, staff presented the draft Amendment Bylaw No. 1156, 2025. The Committee passed the following motion:

THAT the Committee recommend to Council that staff prepare the necessary bylaw amendment to amend the Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 811, 2011 as follows:

• adding a new sub-section, Housing Need Requirement, within Section 3: Housing, to detail the 5- and 20-year period (2021 – 2041) housing need in View Royal;
• revising an existing housing policy, Policy HS1.9 Innovative Approaches, by adding: shelters for persons experiencing homelessness and housing for those at risk of homelessness;
• adding a new policy, Policy HS1.12 Non-Market Units, within Section 3: Housing, to support the development of non-market housing for lower-income populations through collaborative efforts with agencies and governments;
• deleting existing Large Lot Residential (R-L) and Residential (R) land use designations and replacing with a new Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) land use designation defined as follows: uses include detached and attached dwellings, such as detached residential, secondary suite, garden suite, duplex, rowhouse, townhouse, house-plex, and apartments; buildings up to three storeys; and a maximum of six (6) dwelling units;
• adding a new Hospital Transit-Oriented Area (HTOA) land use designation, and amending the existing land use designations of all properties within 200 metres of the identified transit exchange bus stop to the new HTOA land use designation, defined as follows: uses include mixed-use with apartments, visitor accommodations, restaurants, retail, office, institutional (i.e. Hospital), and Civic Use (e.g. daycares, libraries, public gathering and amenity spaces); buildings up to 10 Storeys; and density up to 3.5 Floor Space Ratio (FSR);
• adding a new Neighbourhood Village (NV) land use designation, and amending the existing land use designations of all properties within 201 and 400 metres of the identified transit exchange bus stop to the new NV land use designation, defined as follows: uses include small-scale, mixed-use buildings, such as multiunit housing and community-serving commercial and civic uses (schools, offices, restaurants, retail, small grocery store, and community spaces); buildings up to six storeys; and density up to 2.5 FSR; and
• adding a new policy, LU 4.14 Mixed Commercial Development, to Section 1: Land Use and Urban Design, which states the following: Development of four storeys or greater should incorporate commercial or public use space.

Official Community Plan Bylaw No.811, 2011, Amendment Bylaw No. 1156, 2025, has been prepared to align with the Committee’s resolution. The proposed amendments satisfy the requirements outlined in Section 473.1 of the LGA.

At the September 9, 2025, COW meeting, the Committee requested further information on the proposed amendment bylaw. Staff have summarized the Committee’s questions and comments below, and have provided answers to each, as follows:

• The Committee requested further clarification on the purpose and intent of the bylaw.
  • Staff has updated the purpose section of the amendment bylaw and provided additional information, including its alignment with provincial housing legislation.
• The Committee asked if each amendment was required to align with the provincial housing legislation.
  • Except for the proposed LU 4.14 Mixed Commercial policy, all proposed amendments would satisfy the requirements of the housing legislation and the December 31, 2025, deadline.
• The Committee requested clarification if the facility, New Road Therapeutic Recovery Community, located at 94 Talcott Road is captured as a housing need in the Town’s Housing Need Requirement calculation.
  • The BC Housing Targets Branch and Planning and Land Use Management Branch advised that the facility is not considered a form of housing that is monitored under the Town’s housing target order or the Town’s 5- and 20-year housing need requirement respectively.
• The Committee suggested that reference to the buffer area for the TOA be referenced by the “tier” system used by the Province instead of the distances, e.g., 200 m, 201 to 400 m.
  • Staff have not made this change to the proposed amendment bylaw because the proposed amendment bylaw is consistent with the Zoning Bylaw.
• The Committee requested clarification on how the proposed amendment to the existing policy HS1.9 and of a new policy, HS1.12, would align with the six housing needs classes.
  • Policy HS1.9 Innovative Approaches aligns with Persons Experiencing Homelessness and Policy HS1.12 Non-Market Units supports Extreme Core Housing Need. The supply of units to reduce extreme core housing need are for persons paying more than 50% of their income on housing.

ANALYSIS:

Since the September 9th Committee meeting, staff have made additional changes to the amendment bylaw to improve formatting consistencies with the OCP, which includes: