This article originally appeared in our Jan. 12 City Council Minute newsletter recapping the regular council meeting on Jan. 9. Sign up for our newsletter to get future council updates and more straight to your mailbox.
New legislation in Bill 44, Bill 35 and Bill 46 has spurred a comprehensive re-write of Revelstoke’s zoning bylaws, delaying other projects.
These bills were the focus of city staff member Paul Simon’s request that council allow the Johnson Heights neighbourhood project’s cancellation in its current state. That request paired with an ask that council allow staff to focus on re-writing the city’s zoning bylaws in response to the three bills that would see an impact to housing and development within Revelstoke.
“There’s all these nuanced details we have to work through,” Simon said when discussing the impacts Bill 44 would have on future planning of how to accommodate multiple units on current properties, including usable green space for each unit and privacy needs between units on a shared lot.
“Right now, for the purpose of addressing legislation, just think of it as this is the floor we are mandated to accommodate now,” he advised.
Bill 44 specifically would see any current zoning for single dwelling occupancy or two-unit dwellings be amended to allow more units depending on size of lot.
Using lots in Southside’s Townly Street and Downie Street developments as examples, Simon noted that all lots in the area would now be open to developments of four units per lot due to each lot averaging 430 sq. meters in size.
“It is important that the public and council really start to understand that this is a requirement and we have to accommodate it,” Simon said.
The deadline for municipalities to comply with Bill 44 is June 30, 2024.
“We are oversubscribed for 2024 when we account for the legislative changes,” Simon told council. “I will note we feel we’re in a good spot because we’ve already done so much work on this comprehensive zoning bylaw review.”
He still hopes for time and allowances for staff to inform residents of the changes and gain input from communities before the June deadline.
“We need to be really streamlined and prioritized in 2024 to address this.”
That means projects not currently budgeted for, initiated or ongoing, might need to be cut. One such project proposed is the Johnson Heights neighborhood plan.
“There’s no way we would be able to get to it by 2024, to be fully transparent,” Simon explained. “The necessity for the neighborhood plan was with development interest. That has fallen by the wayside, except for one developer within Johnson Heights. It doesn’t really lead to this plan being a priority right now.”
With questions from council about what work could be salvaged from the canceled project, Simon assured council that any current work and research done could be easily carried over if the project was brought back to the table.
Council voted unanimously to cancel the Johnson Heights neighbourhood plan project and voted unanimously to allow staff to prioritize working on the zoning bylaw comprehensive re-write project to tie in with the June provincial deadline.
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