Kelowna and West Kelowna on list of cities subject to provincial housing targets
The provincial government has created a list of B.C. municipalities that it could force to build more housing, and Kelowna and West Kelowna are on it.
With housing supply failing to meet demand, the NDP government has been warning municipalities for some time that it may use legislation to make them approve more housing developments more quickly.
Last week B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon announced the first 10 municipalities that must meet future housing targets, but a government order-in-council lists all 47 B.C. municipalities that the province feels are too slow to approve developments and will likely be subject to the same housing targets. That would include a mix of townhomes, multi-family buildings, condos and below-market housing. Ten more municipalities will be named later this summer, the housing ministry said.
Kelowna director of planner and development services Ryan Smith applauded the government’s move. “We support the province’s efforts for accountability in terms of municipalities creating more housing supply in B.C. How far the province reaches into our processes, that’s yet to be seen, but we think the accountability is a fantastic step,” he said.
Smith said he believes Kelowna will be one of the next ten municipalities named, but nothing will change for the city as measured by residential planning and development because they’ve already made progress on housing targets and mix. “We’ve been a leader in housing mix. Single family housing will be part of our housing stock for the foreseeable future but that’s only 25 per cent of the housing that’s being built in Kelowna. The rest is townhomes, condominiums, secondary suites, carriage housing, and so on, so we already have a robust mix of housing,” he said.
Kelowna and West Kelowna were the only Okanagan cities to make the government’s list. Smith credited other central Okanagan cities, which are also highgrowth areas, for building more housing than the provincial average. Partnering with the provincial government to help deliver more affordable housing is also something the city wants to prioritize, he said.
Kamloops was one of the 10 targeted municipalities announced last week.