The City of Delta’s planning department wants to know what type of new housing designs residents prefer through a contest.
A recent report to council notes that to encourage increased housing options in single-detached neighbourhoods, staff are preparing to launch a housing design competition.
“The design competition would seek innovative new ideas for houseplexes and accessory dwelling units (i.e. detached suites) and help to prepare the local design and building community to deliver these unit types. The winning designs would help inform Delta’s work on increasing housing options in single-detached neighbourhoods and lay the groundwork for future pre-approved designs for small-scale multi-unit housing…”
Council recently endorsed an action plan to achieve Delta’s provincially-mandated housing target.
The Ministry of Housing this year announced that Delta would be one of the first 10 municipalities to receive a set of housing targets and last month the government issued a formal Housing Target Order.
A staff report notes that the province has estimated that Delta’s total housing need is 4,809 net new units over the next five years. The housing target set for Delta by the province is 3,607 units, representing the number of net new units needed to meet 75 percent of estimated need.
The report also outlines several measures the city has already undertaken to speed up the delivery of more housing including removing the requirement to hold a public hearing for applications that are consistent with Delta’s Official Community Plan (OCP).
Noting the city “already has a robust Housing Action Plan and a track record of measures taken to accelerate housing growth”, the report recommended a number of actions including, among others, continued development application streamlining measures, reducing parking requirements and introducing pre-zoning where consistent with the OCP.
Requiring an OCP amendment, the city will also explore promoting increased residential density and variety through small scale multi-unit housing and infill.
Currently, Delta’s OCP and zoning bylaw generally limit choices to single detached homes, secondary suites, and in some cases coach homes or duplexes in areas designated and zoned for low density residential development, which make up approximately 75 percent of Delta’s housing stock, the report adds.
Staff also proposed expediting the OCP review and update process.
