Urban Development Institute Annual Report 2023-2024

The Urban Development Institute's 2023-2024 Annual Report reflects a year of dynamic change and dedicated advocacy. This report showcases UDI's proactive engagement with government actions at both provincial and federal levels, focusing on shaping a supportive development landscape. Key achievements include intensive work on five new pieces of Provincial housing legislation, effective collaboration with municipal partners, and the expansion of Federal advocacy efforts to address the housing crisis. Furthermore, the report highlights continued membership growth and details the extensive programming tailored to members for ongoing connection and education within the industry.

Bill 44 encourages housing density to meet the long-range needs of B.C.

communities by:

• Requiring municipalities to allow two to four housing units per single-family

lot where the population is over 5,000, or as many as six housing units on

selected lots near highly used bus stops;

• Prohibiting public hearings on residential rezonings that are consistent with

the municipality’s Official Community Plan (OCP); and

• Requiring cities to plan for and zone 20 years’ worth of projected housing

needs – this includes existing and future housing needs as communities

grow.

Ultimately, this will provide developers with better certainty. Proactive long-range

zoning combined with the elimination of public hearings on residential projects

that already meet the OCP diminishes the risk of changing goal posts late in

the development process.

By shifting the focus of public engagement into the early stages of planning,

public guidance on a project can be integrated before too many components

have been set into motion.

Because a proactively zoned community reduces spot rezoning processes,

which would normally allow for amenity fees and voluntary contributions, Bill

46 creates the Amenity Cost Charge (ACC) to address the long-term needs of

the community.

This new tool will likely work in a similar way to the existing Development Cost

Charges (DCCs). In this case, the ACC is based on the 20-year plans that

municipalities create to determine the charge for new development in a way

that accounts for the benefit to new and existing residents separately.

Bill 46 also expands the ability of DCCs to fund fire protection, police, solid

waste and recycling facilities, and portions of certain highway facilities.

Bill 44

Bill 46

Housing Statutes

(Residential

Development)

Amendment Act, 2023

Housing Statutes

(Development

Financing)

Amendment Act, 2023

UDI Annual Report 2023-2024

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