The City of Delta will be eliminating the ND14 North Delta development permit area for building form and character from its Official Community Plan.
An election promise from his Achieving for Delta team, Mayor George Harvie and Delta council approved removing this development permit area from its bylaws following a well-attended public hearing in North Delta last Monday night.
The vote, however, was not unanimous as Coun. Lois Jackson opposed the move.
“What we are trying to do here is provide the same application process that applies now in South Delta,” said Harvie. “We’re trying to take away treating North Delta differently. It’s not to say the end product wouldn’t be the same as what you could have under the existing input from staff. It’s up to the architect and the property owner to determine exactly the finishing they wish to have. The community of North Delta needs to be commended for what they are building and also in South Delta. The community as a whole looks good. What is being proposed will treat all of Delta the same.”
The ND14 North Delta development permit came into effect in 2004 and regulated the form and character of all new detached and duplex housing and significant additions to existing homes in North Delta. By removing this development permit area, Delta will create a more streamlined process, be less prescriptive with house design and create a consistent development process for single detached houses in all of Delta’s urban areas.
According to staff, even with these changes, detached dwellings and duplexes in North Delta will continue to be regulated by Delta’s zoning bylaws.
Five residents spoke in favour of the zoning amendment during the public hearing.
“I’d like to commend council for moving so swiftly on this in order to make North Delta an equal partner in the city,” said resident Peter Mattoo. “We have always felt like second-class citizens compared to Ladner and South Delta because of this bylaw. It is important that we are all treated equally and I feel this bylaw will do that.”
Two residents spoke against the bylaw change, including Elizabeth Jeffs, who took issue with the timing of the hearing, December, which is a busy month, and that it appeared the public hearing was a moot point.
“It’s an interesting choice in timing. Is this a done deal or is this a public hearing that is open for change or has it in fact already been done?” she asked council. “I have heard several people speak tonight and thank you as if this was already accomplished. To hear the statement that some have felt like second-class citizens… I have never felt like that, so I’m not sure what the underlying meaning of that is. I think these guidelines are wonderful, so I think another way to make us equal is to apply these to South Delta.”
Following the public hearing, Coun. Dylan Kruger said he supported the change because of reasons of principle and fairness.
“I don’t think the City of Delta should be in the business of dictating design,” he said. “Councillors are not home designers. The role of council should be looking at issues like house size, lot coverage, tree retention and parking. Anything further, in my opinion, would be government overreach.”
Coun. Bruce McDonald said he agreed with Kruger’s comments.
“We talked about fairness and continuity throughout the whole community,” he said. “I really do believe that the market will dictate what can be built. This was a regulation that was overdue for change and I’m very pleased we are making this change.”
In voting against, Jackson said when this came into effect in 2004, cookie cutter homes were coming into the community and it was looking more like North Surrey.
“We now have one of the most beautiful areas because of the guidelines you see here. Instead of being second-class citizens we are one A-class citizens. You have to go to a greater extent if you want to have a house in North Delta in order to preserve our neighbourhoods, our families and our privacy and there are more hoops to go through, which is not second class, it’s first class,” said Jackson. “I’ve lived here for 50 years and we’ve worked hard to get North Delta to the way it looks today and we’ve done it through bylaws like this.”
