Province denies View Royal and Sooke extensions on new density regulations

The Westshore has a rapidly growing population. The province wants municipalities to create housing to absorb growing populations. But these interests don't always line up as cleanly as it might seem.

Sooke and View Royal both applied to be exempted from new rules that municipalities adjust their own rules to align with BC's new zoning standards. Last week, 21 municipalities were granted those extensions. View Royal and Sooke were not. 

They now have 90 days (from Sept. 16) to adopt bylaws that reflect BC's move away from single-family zoning.

The new Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) legislation stipulates that for places with 5,000+ people (Sooke is 16,494 and View Royal is 12,337), single-family and duplex residential lots must allow at least 3 units (if lot is 280m2 or under), 4 units (if it's 281+), or 6 units (if it's 281+ and near frequent bus service).

Essentially, the change allows “missing middle” builds to happen in most BC communities without specific zoning requests. 

But the province offered reprieves to any local governments that could convince its designated reviewers (an independent engineering firm) that there would be genuine problems (mainly in terms of infrastructure limitations) with beginning this change on June 30. Some were granted extensions until as far off as 2029 and 2030. While the two local councils had their applications denied, they do get a de facto extension of six months due to the length of the review.

The reason Sooke and View Royal asked for delays was not that they were worried they couldn't handle drafting bylaws that fast. They are worried they can't handle adding people that fast.

Whether these municipalities are able to grow and densify without straining current public infrastructure has been a point of contention between the province and these Westshore councils for some time.

Sooke & BC's back-and-forth over traffic continues 

In the wake of the rejection, Sooke Mayor Maja Tait told the Times Colonist that Sooke is “doing our best at a local level” to tackle growing local needs, and is ready to pass the density bylaws, but argued that the proposed Throup-Phillips connection project “is expensive and will take time.” The housing ministry's extension-rejection letter emphasized its own role in upgrading Hwy 14 and the expectation that the municipality would upgrade Throup.

The connector, part of the District of Sooke’s Transportation Master Plan (STMP), “requires us going to referendum and it takes up the majority of our borrowing capacity for 30 years,” she said. In Sooke’s master plan, the buildout of the Throup Road Connector is not scheduled until 2026-2027.

Congestion issues in Sooke have come to a head this year, exacerbated by construction on Charters (which partly reopened this week). The municipality and province have had friction over the issue, especially about Throup (which Sooke declined to expand 20 years ago). Sooke has begun tracking travel times, and has hired a traffic engineer and an engineering firm to look at the overarching traffic problem. 

David Evans, a Sooke businessman who is the BC Greens candidate for Juan de Fuca – Malahat, accused housing minister Ravi Kahlon of “bullying” Sooke. Evans argued in a release on Monday that the province is putting local road improvements onto Sooke taxpayers and claimed that BC's push to further densify Sooke will decrease greenspace, increase greenhouse gasses, and cause “[t]raffic backlogs, potholes, unfinished sidewalks, and increased taxes.”

Sooke grew 16% between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, the second-highest in the region behind Langford.

View Royal mayor has objected to provincial changes for past year

View Royal Mayor Sid Tobias expressed his frustration last week, with what he perceives as the provincial government's heavy-handed approach to the roll-out, particularly regarding the timeline for municipalities to comply with new housing regulations. 

Tobias has objected to the province's sweeping housing changes since they were first put forward. In response to the swift implementation of the regulations in other communities, View Royal Mayor Sid Tobias had requested “a comprehensive value-for-money audit” on Bill 44 (Housing Statutes Amendment Act), from the auditor general in November of 2023. This would evaluate the legislation's impact on municipalities and ensure that the changes “would align with public interest.” The bill outlines areas of municipal authority around the implementation of community plans, particularly in consideration of housing needs. 

View Royal and Sooke aren't alone in believing the province needs to do more to upgrade local infrastructure if it is trying to facilitate more people moving in and using that infrastructure. This was a prominent topic at the recent annual meeting of the Union of BC Municipalities.

A UBCM report calls for $650M from the province to support more municipal infrastructure amid densification. Speaking to UBCM, Kahlon said that the province had provided a lot of funding; that it would have more details on infrastructure plans in the coming weeks (i.e. election promises); and that municipalities make a request like this every year.

Westshore munis must now deliver changes by holiday break

While the government, according to its requirements, did not perceive there to be notable infrastructure gaps in either Sooke or View Royal, a later deadline would have given the municipalities time to catch up with planned infrastructure upgrades and zoning changes before more multi-unit dwellings are approved.  

First Nations communities on reserves in the Westshore are exempt from the regulations.

The other Island municipalities whose applications were rejected are Nanaimo, Ladysmith, and the Regional District of Mount Waddington (which covers part of the North Island and mainland coast). On the mainland, Maple Ridge and the Township of Langley were denied.

Municipalities were also allowed to apply for extensions for specific neighbourhoods or areas; Comox and Ladysmith were granted those extensions.

The housing ministry says that 172 out of 188 local governments have already made the required changes.