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2023 Municipal Highlights - DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT
July 16, 2024Pages 72–742 sections
Review of land use planning, zoning, and building permit activities, including the development of a Coastal Adaptation Plan.
503 dwelling units approved by building permit in 2023495 of those units were apartment/mixed use$95,000 grant awarded for Coastal Adaptation Plan mapping372 business licences in 2023
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT
The Development Services Department provides the current and future land use, planning, and zoning work for View Royal and is responsible for the Official Community Plan (OCP) that guides future growth. Additionally, Development Services supports economic development initiatives and programs.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- The Town and Westshore Chamber of Commerce jointly hosted a business mixer event at Town Hall for the local business community. It was attended by Mayor and Council, 30 business representatives, Town and Westshore Chamber staff. The event was an opportunity for people to network and share ideas to help make the Town an even better place to do business. It was enjoyed by all and well-received by the business community.
- A grant application for the Coastal Adaptation Plan was submitted to the Provincial Community Emergency Preparedness Fund administered by the Union of BC Municipalities. The purpose of the plan is to develop detailed mapping and policies to address sea level rise, tsunamis and other coastal hazards. A grant of $95,000 was awarded for the mapping component and 50% of the grant has been received to initiate the project, with the remainder to be provided on completion.
- The first strategic planning workshop with Council to discuss the OCP process was held in June with a second workshop held in July. The public was invited to attend to listen to the discussion and participate during the public participation and question periods. At the July meeting, Council passed two key motions pertaining to adopting the International Association of Public Participation’s core values as a general framework upon which to build its community engagement strategy and to develop an engagement tool to seek feedback on the public’s preferred OCP engagement methods.
- At the Council meeting on November 7, 2023, staff presented the draft Request for Proposal Terms of Reference for the Off-Street Parking Review to be completed in 2023 and 2024. Council passed a motion to table the non-core project for further discussion at the Town’s Strategic Planning session.
- In 2023, 503 dwelling units were approved by building permit, including seven (7) single-family dwellings, one (1) secondary suite, and 495 apartment/mixed use dwelling units.
NEW DWELLING UNITS APPROVED BY TYPE
| Single Family Dwelling | Secondary Suite | Duplex / Triplex | Apartment / Mixed Use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 495 |
| 2022 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 178 |
| 2021 | 8 | 6 | 22 | 37 |
| 2020 | 2 | 3 | 26 | 152 |
Graph: the total number of new dwelling units approved by building permit from 2020 to 2023.
Page 72–74
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT (CON’T)
| DEPARTMENT QUICK STATS: | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Development permit applications | 11 | 5 |
| Development variance permit applications | 5 | 10 |
| Subdivision applications | 1 | 1 |
| Rezoning applications | 4 | 5 |
| Secondary suite permits issued | 437 | 442 |
| Business licences | 368 | 372 |
- The Secondary Suite Permit Amendment Bylaw No. 1125 was adopted in November 2023. The new bylaw removes the requirement for Type 1 Secondary Suite Permits, including annual renewals of existing Type 1 permits. At the end of November, letters were sent to all homeowners with Type 1 Secondary Suite permits to notify them of the recent changes. Annual renewal letters were also sent to homeowners with Type 2 Secondary Suite permits to inform of the recent bylaw changes and provide information on how to move forward with legalizing their secondary suites in accordance with the Zoning Bylaw and BC Building Code.
- At the February 21, 2023 Council meeting, Council passed a motion to not proceed with the current version of the Draft Official Community Plan (2022) and instead organize a facilitated Council workshop on the Official Community Plan (2011) to consider next steps.
- A new Tenant Assistance Policy was adopted in July to help mitigate the potential impacts of displacement on tenants by providing guidelines for developers and property owners to offer additional supports for tenants who are displaced as a result of major renovations or redevelopment.
- The new Building Bylaw, Fees and Charges Bylaw, and Municipal Information Ticketing Amendment Bylaw were all adopted in October and came into effect on November 1, 2023. To support the implementation of the new bylaws, staff worked to update application forms, checklists, and also carried out software and website updates.
View Royal Bike Park
Page 72–74
Extracted from: 2024 07 16 Council Agenda - Agenda - Pdf