Affordable Housing Acceleration Initiative
BACKGROUND
Most properties in New Westminster must be rezoned in order to achieve the land use and density outlined in the City’s Official Community Plan (OCP). For non-profit housing providers trying to deliver affordable rental (below and non-market) housing, which is identified as a critical need in the City’s Housing Needs Report, the rezoning process can be time consuming and often put project funding from senior government at risk.
To address these challenges and enable the delivery of affordable rental housing projects, the City amended the city-wide Zoning Bylaw, and is now exploring changes to the Official Community Plan through the Affordable Housing Acceleration Initiative. The purpose of these changes is to reduce some regulatory barriers, streamline approval processes, and unlock more opportunities for affordable rental housing projects that are entirely owned and operated by non-profit housing providers and non-profit housing co-ops.
PHASE 1: ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENTS [COMPLETE]
Phase 1 of the initiative amended the Zoning Bylaw to allow affordable rental housing projects to forego rezoning if they meet set criteria. These amendments also set out regulations with which the project must comply with, including: building regulations (e.g. how big or tall it is allowed to be), site access requirements, and parking and loading requirements.
Now that these changes have been adopted by Council, affordable rental housing projects can forego rezoning if they meet all of the following criteria:
- The project is no more than six storeys;
- The property is owned and operated by a registered non-profit housing provider, or registered housing co-operative;
- The units will be rental only;
- The project’s long term affordability and rental only tenure are secured via a legal agreement; and,
- The property is currently designated Residential – Multiple-Unit Buildings (RM) in the City’s Official Community Plan.
If the above criteria are met, a rezoning application would not be required. Projects would still be subject to other City approvals, including a Development Permit, Works and Services Agreement, and Building Permit.
To learn about how these amendments were informed by feedback heard from the community and interest groups, please visit the Initiative’s Be Heard page.
Next Steps
Through the process to amend the Zoning Bylaw it was identified that related changes are need to the City’s approval process for Development Variance Permits (DVP).
A Development Variance Permit is a tool established through the Local Government Act. It allows Council to vary provisions of the Zoning Bylaw. As the Zoning Bylaw cannot anticipate each development scenario in the city, this tool provides the City with some flexibility to consider different design solutions, where appropriate. This Permit can be used to vary requirements like building setbacks of number of parking or loading spaces. It cannot vary permitted uses or density. The approval of a Permit which include minor variances are delegated to the Director of Planning and Development.
As a next step, will include reviewing and proposing updates to the Development Variance Permit approval process to ensure efficiency for the approval of non-profit housing applications.
PHASE 2: OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN AMENDMENTS [UNDERWAY]
As a part of the City’s Official Community Plan (OCP) update in Spring 2025, Phase two of the Initiative will explore amending the OCP to allow more opportunities in other appropriate areas of the city for affordable rental housing to be delivered without a rezoning.
HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?
Visit the Our City, Our Homes Be Heard page for opportunities to participate in and stay up to date on the process. The Be Heard Page also includes project timelines, past consultation event materials and feedback, and the opportunity to ask a question.
You can also sign up for CityPage Online, follow the City on X or ‘like’ the City on Facebook. These are great ways to stay connected to hear about upcoming events!