The city wants feedback on potential housing strategies that could be implemented in a new plan for Delta.
As part of the second phase of Delta’s Housing Action Plan, the city has launched an online public engagement campaign.
The first phase included a Housing Needs Assessment, which included input from residents and stakeholders to better understand Delta’s current housing situation and help identify local priority housing needs.
The city notes it’s now seeking community input on possible strategies and actions over the next five years.
“This virtual engagement session will give the community another opportunity to safely engage with the City and provide meaningful input on the Housing Action Plan. We want to hear from a variety of perspectives so we can develop a housing plan that is supported by the community and provides options for everyone, including youth, seniors, and the most vulnerable,” said Mayor George Harvie.
Council this summer discussed a series of proposals that could become part of a final plan.
According to staff, the 10 draft strategies include some shorter-term “easy wins” as well as some longer-term items with “high impact.”
The strategies include defining priority unit types in the Official Community Plan to guide both incentivizing and regulatory measures, increasing the proportion of adaptable units required in new multi-family developments from 20-to-50 per cent and introducing a tenant relocation policy to reduce negative impacts of redevelopment on existing tenants, as well as introducing a rental replacement policy to protect the existing rental supply.
The proposed actions also includes dedicating staff resources to build partnerships and facilitate the development of needed housing types, provide meaningful housing input in a forthcoming land acquisition strategy, creating “gentle density” opportunities to create opportunities for two-to-four units in single-family zones where appropriate and introducing a sliding scale incentive package to refine the city's approach to incentivizing the supply and affordability needed.
The potential plan also includes pilot pre-zoning in select areas near town centres to signal to property owners and developers that additional density is needed, thus reducing administrative and financial burden associated with rezoning approvals, and pilot inclusionary rental zoning for redevelopment to increase the supply of non-market rental housing.
More information about the latest community input campaign is available on the city’s website. Information on the proposed housing plan is also available by contacting deputy city manager at 604-946-3219, or email [email protected].
