COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE REPORT - SMALL-SCALE MULTI-UNIT HOUSING – PROPOSED ZONING REGULATIONS AND AMENDMENTS TO THE OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN (Attachment 2 to OCP Report)

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to introduce the proposed Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) zoning regulations in the form of Schedule D: Garden Suite Regulations and Schedule E: Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing Regulations, updated parking requirements and lot coverage provisions.

In addition, this report will also introduce a new Development Permit Area Intensive Residential – Garden Suite, including new form and character design guidelines for garden suites as well as amendments to Schedule P – Form and Character Development Permit Areas map in the 2011 Official Community Plan by adding the SSMUH parcels to the Mixed Residential Development Permit Area.

OPTIONS

At this time, staff would like to provide options for the Committee’s consideration in preparation of the bylaw amendments. Three different options and rationales are provided below, with the first option being the recommended one. Further analysis on each option is provided in the report.

Option 1: Provincial Site Standard Recommendations (Recommended)

THAT staff prepare the necessary bylaw amendments that would include Schedule D: Garden Suite Regulations and Option 1 Schedule E: Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing Regulations attached to the staff report prepared by the Senior Planner titled “Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing – Proposed Zoning Regulations and Amendments to the Official Community Plan” on May 7, 2024.

Option 1 Rationale

Option 1 generally follows the Provincial Policy Manual & Site Standard recommendations with slightly increased setbacks, reduced lot coverages and inclusion of impermeable lot coverage (regulate amount of impermeable hard surfaces), to reflect some best planning practices. The proposed regulations include four sub-categories, based on lot size. Building type, size and scale (massing) on a lot would be regulated by setbacks, height and lot coverage as encouraged in the Provincial manual. This approach would encourage more diversity in housing choices to meet the needs of households in the community (duplexes with suites, houseplexes and townhouses).

Alternative Options:

Option 2: Hybrid – Provincial Site Standards and Standing Committee on Housing Recommendations

THAT staff prepare the necessary bylaw amendments that would include Schedule D: Garden Suite Regulations and Option 2 Schedule E: Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing Regulations attached to the staff report prepared by the Senior Planner titled “Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing – Proposed Zoning Regulations and Amendments to the Official Community Plan” on May 7, 2024.

Option 2 Rationale

Option 2 considers the Provincial Policy Manual and Site Standards, existing Zoning Bylaw regulations, and feedback provided by the Standing Committee on Housing. Under Option 2, additional development regulations, including floor space ratio and building floor area minimums and maximums have been added to restrict a building’s size on a lot. The proposed maximum building floor areas are greater than the recommendations from the Standing Committee on Housing. However, this would allow for a greater diversity of housing choice in neighbourhoods that would be attainable and suitable for households with children, seniors, or people looking to downsize, such as townhouses, duplexes with suites and houseplexes. With these added restrictions in Option 2, it would likely be difficult to achieve 3 to 6 units on some parcels due to lot size and shape, topographical constraints, and existing environmental development permit areas.

Option 3: Standing Committee on Housing Recommendations

THAT staff prepare the necessary bylaw amendments that would include the recommendations in the Standing Committee Report prepared by Standing Committee on Housing members titled “Implementing Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing in View Royal” as well as Schedule D: Garden Suite Regulations and Option 3 Schedule E: Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing Regulations attached to the staff report prepared by the Senior Planner titled “Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing – Proposed Zoning Regulations and Amendments to the Official Community Plan” on May 7, 2024.

Option 3 Rationale

On May 3, 2024, the Standing Committee on Housing members presented a report titled “Implementing Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing in View Royal”, which introduced a range of maximum floor areas based on number of units. The maximum floor area that would be permitted for any housing type would limit the maximum floor area to 93 m² (1000 ft²). The reason for this recommendation is to control the intensity (size and massing of a building) of development. From a planning professional perspective, these maximum floor areas are appropriate for houseplexes to ensure they do not have the “look and feel” of very large homes. Option 2 also takes this into consideration by introducing maximum building floor areas for a houseplex albeit slightly larger than the recommendations by the Standing Committee. However, the proposed maximum floor areas in Option 3 would impose greater restrictions on housing diversity by making it difficult to achieve 4 to 6 units, especially in the form of ground-oriented housing, such as larger townhouses suitable for households with children.

TIME CRITICAL:

The report is time critical as the Provincial deadline for adoption of a zoning amendment bylaw to regulate Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) is June 30, 2024. Adoption of the concurrent proposed Official Community Plan (OCP) amendments is required to ensure the Development Permit Areas are in effect at time of zoning bylaw adoption.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The Province requires all municipalities with Restricted Zones to update their Zoning Bylaws to allow a secondary suite and/or garden suite on all single-family residential lots as well as permit a minimum of 3, 4 or 6 dwelling units per parcel, depending on location and lot size, in accordance with the legislation passed under Bill 44 – 2023.

Staff prepared a series of bylaw amendments to the Zoning Bylaw and OCP to implement the Provincial housing legislation. The report presents three options, including the advantages and disadvantages of each, for the Committee’s consideration. The recommended option 1 is the least restrictive and more aligned with the Provincial Policy Manual and Site Standards. The other two options are more restrictive by limiting the floor areas, with option 3 being the most restrictive in terms of meeting the intent of the Provincial housing legislation.

In addition to establishing zoning regulations for SSMUH, staff is also recommending some amendments to on-site parking requirements for single-family dwellings, duplexes, townhouses, houseplexes as well as accessible parking, and introducing a new visitor parking requirement.

BACKGROUND:

Purpose of the Legislation

The Province introduced new housing legislation in December 2023 in recognition of the growing number of persons unable to attain housing in municipalities across the province. The objective of the SSMUH legislation is to increase the total supply of housing in municipalities, create more diverse housing choices, and contribute to more affordable housing across the province.

The Province recognizes that zoning exclusively for single-family dwellings has created a supply shortage and bottleneck to permit alternative housing forms other than single-family dwellings. This has made demand for alternative housing forms high and costly to build. In addition to restrictions, municipalities have introduced additional layers of process and regulations like rezoning applications and design requirements (development permits), which can slow down approval and the building process for new housing types, such as duplexes, houseplexes, townhouses and apartments.

The housing legislation looks to overcome these identified challenges by enabling multiple units of housing on all existing single-family and duplex lots, up to 3, 4, and 6 units, depending on the lot size and location. These lots are referred to as Restricted Zones in the legislation. In View Royal, the number of properties zoned exclusively to permit single-family homes and duplexes are approximately 78% of all properties.

The Town is required to adopt, through bylaw, amendments to Zoning Bylaw No. 900, 2014 to allow secondary suites and/or accessory dwelling units (garden suites), and a minimum of 3, 4, and 6 dwelling units within all Restricted Zones. A map showing all SSMUH properties within these Restricted Zones is attached (see Attachment 4). Staff have prepared draft amendments to ensure compliance with the legislation (refer to Attachment 1 - Schedule D: Garden Suite Regulations and Attachments 2 and 3 for Options 1 and 2 Schedule E: Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing Regulations).

DISCUSSION:

The following section identifies the key changes to the Zoning Bylaw and OCP to implement the Provincial housing legislation.

Parking Regulations (Zoning Bylaw Amendment)

In consideration of the SSMUH legislation and Provincial Manual and Site Standards, some adjustments to residential parking requirements are being proposed, including a reduction in the required number of parking spaces for single-family dwellings, duplexes and townhouses, addition of a visitor parking requirement, and an increase in accessible parking spaces. Parcels identified within a Prescribed Frequent Transit Stop (refer to Attachment 5) are not required to provide on-site residential parking. However, where parking is provided, the parking spaces must comply with the applicable parking regulations in the Zoning Bylaw.

The parking recommendations take into account a regional comparison review of other municipalities along with feedback provided by Council. It is important to note that a comprehensive parking review is identified as a non-core project in 2026, in accordance with the 2024-2028 Financial Plan. Table 1 below summarizes the recommended minimum parking requirements for SSMUH.

Table 1 – Proposed parking requirements

In summary, the above recommendations reduce the minimum number of parking spaces to preserve on-site green space, reduce building footprint, and impermeable surface area. For clarity, a minimum does not prevent a developer from providing additional parking spaces within a development. By changing the minimum required spaces, a developer can determine what best suites the development and market demand while ensuring that parking is provided as required for the residential use, rather than to simply satisfy the requirements of the bylaw.

Visitor Parking

Currently, visitor parking is not required in the zoning bylaw. Based on observations, visitor parking demand is not being met in some developments due to spillover on adjacent streets. Therefore, visitor parking minimums are proposed to address on-site visitor parking demands for new multi-family residential and residential attached dwellings. Requiring on-site visitor parking would ensure that some space on the site is reserved for visitor parking only. Most municipalities within the region contain similar visitor parking requirements in their zoning bylaws.

Accessible Parking

In review of zoning regulations throughout the Capital Regional District, there are numerous approaches to providing accessible parking. Based on the review, it is recommended to increase the current accessible parking requirements in the Town’s Zoning Bylaw to ensure that an adequate number of accessible parking spaces are provided in all developments. The increase is marginal (1 extra space) for the first 50 parking spaces. SSMUH developments would not be required to provide accessible parking; however, this change would ensure that larger developments with 50+ parking spaces are providing more accessible parking on site, including developments in the Transit-Oriented Area.

A more fulsome review of accessible parking, including the design of accessible parking spaces, would be completed as part of the scheduled Off-Street Parking Review scheduled for 2026 in the Financial Plan.

Lot Coverage and Impermeable Surface (Zoning Bylaw Amendment)

The Zoning Bylaw currently regulates Lot Coverage[^1] and Impermeable Surface[^2]. These are standard regulations employed by many municipalities to regulate a parcel’s development potential to ensure that a site is not completely covered by a building or hard surface, unless desired. In rural and suburban communities like View Royal it is not uncommon to see a lower lot coverage and impermeable surface, which promotes protection of green space and trees.

In the Town’s Zoning Bylaw, the regulation of Lot Coverage and Impermeable Surface are considered provisions of density, which are not able to be modified through a development application without first obtaining a rezoning approval from Council (density cannot be varied under the Local Government Act). This is unlike most municipalities, which use lot coverage to regulate the size, siting and dimensions of a building. This approach allows for lot coverage to be varied.

Through this zoning bylaw amendment, staff is recommending amendments to all standard zones by moving Lot Coverage and Impermeable Surface into a new section to avoid a rezoning process for relaxations to these zoning provisions. However, variances would still be required to increase lot coverage and impermeable surface requirements, subject to Council approval. This approach would also be consistent with the proposed SSMUH zoning regulations.

[^1]: “Lot Coverage” means the percentage of the lot area covered by all buildings and other structures. [^2]: “Impermeable Surface” means a surface, including the roof of a building or other structure, that does not allow precipitation to penetrate through to the natural ground underlying the artificial surface. For clarity, a green roof and a driveway constructed of gravel or unit pavers, do not constitute an impermeable surface.

Garden Suite Zoning Regulations (Zoning Bylaw Amendment)

Even though the OCP contains policies in support of garden suites as a form of ground-oriented rental housing and infill development, the Town does not permit garden suites.

Through SSMUH, staff is recommending garden suite zoning regulations by introducing Schedule D: Garden Suite Regulations (refer to Attachment 1). A regional comparison analysis of other municipalities within the region was conducted by staff to create Schedule D, which includes minimum setbacks, minimum separation distance; maximum height, and maximum floor area for garden suites. The proposed garden suite regulations are also relatively consistent with the existing accessory building regulations in the zoning bylaw. A comparison of the regulations is provided in Table 2 below.

Table 2 – Comparison of accessory building and proposed garden suite regulations

Garden Suite Design Guidelines (OCP Amendment)

In addition to the proposed garden suite regulations, staff are proposing a new Garden Suite Development Permit Area and design guidelines in the OCP to regulate form and character of garden suites. The inclusion of a new development permit area for garden suites ensures that the existing form and character of established neighbourhoods is maintained, while increasing the overall supply of rental dwelling units in the community. In review of other municipalities’ garden suite design guidelines, staff are proposing design guidelines to effectively address preliminary site design and layout, building design, landscaping and outdoor amenity space, sustainability, parking and access, and waste and compost. The proposed design guidelines are found in Attachment 6 of this report.

Development Permit Area: Mixed Residential (OCP Amendment)

The majority of SSMUH parcels are currently not within a form and character development permit area, which means the Town would have no control over building design and on-site landscaping for multi-unit housing permitted in proposed Schedule E. In consideration of the potential for new infill development in the form of duplexes, townhouses, houseplexes and small-scale apartments in established residential neighbourhoods, staff have prepared amendments to the OCP by adding the SSMUH parcels to the Mixed Residential Development Permit Area and amending Schedule P Form and Character Development Permit Areas map (Attachment 8). This ensures that moving forward, under the proposed amendments, all SSMUH developments would be subject to a development permit, which would currently require Council approval.

While regulating SSMUH through Development Permit is not advised under the Provincial Policy Manual & Site Standards, the legislation does not prohibit municipalities from regulating form and character for SSMUH development.

Review of Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing Regulations (Zoning Bylaw Amendment)

Housing Testfits

Housing testfits were prepared to showcase different forms of SSMUH development. These are for conceptual purposes only and are not entirely indicative of what may be built on a site. They do not take into account factors such as site conditions, topographical constraints, and environmental development permit areas. However, they assisted with informing Options 1 and 2 described below. The various sample housing testfits are available in Attachment 7.

Comparison of the Three Options

Option 1: Provincial Site Standard Recommendations (Staff Recommendation)

In Option 1, Schedule E: Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing (refer to Attachment 2), staff have taken the proposed Provincial Policy Manual & Site Standard recommendations and made modifications to reflect some best planning practices. The proposed regulations still follow a composition of four sub-categories, based on lot size.

The following regulations were added to those found in the recommendations provided in the Provincial Policy Manual and Site Standards:

• Minimum dwelling floor unit area to ensure micro-suites are not built;
• Impermeable surface area maximum to ensure sites preserve green space and allow for landscaping; and
• Minimum Separation Distance to ensure consistency with the BC Building Code and provide sufficient breathing room between buildings on a lot.

Under Option 1, density and intensity of development is regulated through setbacks, heights, lot coverage, impermeable lot coverage and separation distances to provide flexibility in delivering housing units and increase housing supply. Form and character, which also considers massing of a building, would be controlled through the development permit process. Table 3 below summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of Option 1.

Summary of Option 1

• Lot Density (floor space ratio (FSR) and unit size) not regulated to allow for flexibility in design and market demand.
• Development focus is on infill development for new garden suites and secondary suites, and some small density housing typologies like duplex, houseplexes, townhouses and small scale apartments.

Table 3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Option 1

In summary, this option would meet the intent of the Province’s approach to housing under Bill-44, which is to address the housing supply and demand crisis. In the Town, the majority of land is zoned for single-family dwellings, and with these changes, it may allow for greater housing diversity and supply and a more streamlined development process.

Option 2: Hybrid – Provincial Policy Manual and Site Standard and Standing Committee Recommendations

In Option 2, Schedule E: SSMUH Regulations (refer to Attachment 3), the proposed regulations closely follow the recommended core regulations found in the Provincial Policy Manual and Site Standards packages. Additional provisions have been added based on feedback received from the Standing Committee on Housing, as well as a comprehensive review of existing zoning practices employed by Zoning Bylaw No. 900, 2014.

Furthermore, staff employed best practices research, conducted mapping, and analysis (refer to Attachment 10) as well as a regional comparison and discussions with other planning staff in neighbouring municipalities to develop the draft regulations under Option 2. In addition to Option 1, the following regulations were added to regulate the size of individual dwelling units and buildings on a lot:

• Minimum dwelling floor unit area to ensure micro-suites are not built (Consistent with Option 1);
• Impermeable surface area maximum to ensure sites preserve green space and allow for landscaping (Consistent with Option 1);
• Minimum Separation Distance to ensure consistency with the BC Building Code and provide sufficient breathing space between buildings (Consistent with Option 1);
• Maximum Floor Space Ratio to ensure a careful balance between development opportunity legislated through housing regulations and preserving size and scale of development in existing neighbourhoods;
• Maximum Number of Dwelling Units to cap the number of units at the required minimum to limit density and preserve form and character of neighbourhoods. Further density would require rezoning, subject to Council’s approval;
• Maximum Building Floor Area to cap the building size to avoid large buildings on small lots, and encourage potential for rezoning on larger lots that could accommodate more units; and
• Maximum Houseplex Floor Area of any floor to regulate the building footprint and ensure that residential infill housing complements the existing neighbourhoods.

Under Option 2, regulations for floor space ratio, number of dwelling units, building floor area maximums, heights, setbacks and lot coverages would provide further restrictions on the size and scale of development to address concerns expressed by the Standing Committee on Housing. On some parcels, it will be challenging to achieve the maximum densities in Option 2 due to site constraints and/or existing environmental development permit areas.

Table 4 below compares the density of three townhouse projects recently constructed in the Town. It is worth noting that the maximum dwelling unit floor areas being proposed in Option 2 (up to 140 m² of floor area per dwelling unit) are less than the total floor areas in the three examples shown in the table below.

Table 4. Comparison on townhouse developments in the Town

Table 5 below summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of Option 2.

Summary – Option 2

• Lot Density regulations are expanded to provide a hybrid approach to both the Provincial Policy Manual and Site Standards, concerns identified by the Standing Committee on Housing, and staff’s research.
• Development focus is on infill development in the form of garden suites and secondary suites, duplex, houseplex, townhouse, and small-scale apartment buildings.

Table 5. Advantages and Disadvantages of Option 2

Option 3: Standing Committee Recommendations

On May 3, 2024, the Standing Committee on Housing endorsed a report prepared by Committee Members titled Implementing Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing in View Royal (refer to Attachment 9) with forms Option 3.

The Committee’s draft motion is the following:

SCOHL-05-24 THAT the Standing Committee on Housing Legislation recommend to Council that the Town’s Zoning Bylaw amendment for Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing regulations be comprise of the following sub-categories:

AND THAT the total floor area limits for all restricted zones in the Town’s Zoning Bylaw be amended as follows:

The above recommendation endorses the site standard packages provided in the Provincial Manual with the following additions:

• Applied site standards to lot size ranges;
• Maximum number of dwelling units; and
• Maximum total floor area limit of 93 m² (1000 ft²) per dwelling unit.

Table 6 below summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of Option 3.

Summary – Option 3

• The regulations focus largely on restricting size and number of dwelling units throughout the community.
• A maximum floor area limit of 93 m² (1000 ft² ) per dwelling unit for all SSMUH.

Table 6. Advantages and Disadvantages of Option 3

Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing - Prescribed Transit Stops (Zoning Bylaw Amendment)

As part of the required updates through Bill-44, municipalities are required to identify Prescribed Frequent Transit Stops (PFTSs) in their communities along with a 400 m buffer around each stop. View Royal has a total of six PFTSs of which four are located along Island Highway and two are located on Helmcken Road. The stops were identified and confirmed by the Province and BC Transit through the sharing of digital files to correctly and accurately identify the bus stops and buffer area. Within the 400 m buffer area, up to six dwelling units are permitted and on-site residential parking is not required, except for accessible parking. The six identified PFTSs will be attached as an Appendix to the proposed Schedule E.

SUSTAINABILITY/CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS:

The new housing legislation is expected to increase housing supply and trigger population growth, which would result in an increase demand for social (i.e., health care, child care, education, etc) and physical infrastructure (parks, pedestrian infrastructure, schools, health care facilities, etc.). However, to reduce community greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), the Town has adopted level 4 Zero Carbon Step Code for new construction. In addition, locating residential development near frequent transit stops and cycling infrastructure may promote a shift in reliance on the automobile to public and active transportation options, further reducing GHG emissions.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

Some funds approved by Council have been used towards zoning testfits to illustrate and inform proposed zoning bylaw amendments.

CONCLUSION:

A significant amount of work has been completed by staff over the last couple of months to meet the Province’s June 30, 2024, deadline. Following the Committee of the Whole meeting, the next step would be to finalize the proposed zoning bylaw and OCP bylaw amendments, garden suite design guidelines and development permit area maps which are associated with the implementation of the SSMUH legislation. Depending on the Committee’s recommendation and response from the Province on the extension applications, staff would anticipate introductory readings of the amendment bylaws in late May. A Public Hearing will be required for the OCP amendments, which would occur in early June to ensure the required tasks are completed by the Provincial deadline.

CONCURRENCE:

REVIEWED BY:

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Schedule D: Garden Suite Regulations
2. Schedule E: Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing Regulations – Option 1
3. Schedule E: Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing Regulations – Option 2
4. Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing Map
5. Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing Prescribed Frequent Transit Stops Map
6. Official Community Plan Development Permit Garden Suite Design Guidelines
7. Housing Testfits
8. Official Community Plan Schedule P Form and Character Development Permit Area Map Amendment
9. Standing Committee Report titled Implementing Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing in View Royal
10. Zoning Regulations Comparison Table
11. Provincial Site Standards.