麻豆精选鈥檚 Transit Supportive Corridor Pilot Project (TSC) prompted plenty of debate at city council on Monday (Mar. 3).
The project looks at pre-zoning certain corridors to allow up to six-storey buildings, as part of the city鈥檚 Housing Action Plan and the federally funded Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). 麻豆精选 received more than $31 million from the HAF in 2023, and six-storey buildings are already permitted along these corridors under the Official Community Plan.
But not everyone on council is sold on the idea.
Councillor Ron Cannan argued that pre-zoning takes away the council鈥檚 ability to carefully plan development along these corridors.
鈥淥nce we've given up that ability鈥� we can't turn down an application because we only want four storeys there, or we want townhomes,鈥� he said.
He also raised concerns about public input, questioning whether residents would have a say as these corridors are developed.
鈥淚s there an affordable component to this? I know one developer who鈥檚 already bought 12 properties on one of these corridors, so we鈥檙e just rezoning the land and doing the work for the developer. I鈥檓 elected to vote and represent all of the citizens, not just the developer. I don't support moving forward and rezoning all these (properties)鈥� I don鈥檛 see the benefit to the community.鈥�
Some councillors worried about creating long stretches of high-rises and condo walls along these corridors. Ryan Smith, divisional director of planning and development services, acknowledged their concerns.
鈥�(We鈥檙e) trying to make sure that we put the guidelines and regulations in place at the beginning to get that right,鈥� he said.
Cannan also argued that 麻豆精选 currently doesn鈥檛 have enough transit buses to support the expected growth. The Hardy Road transit yard is already at capacity, and it could be another five years before a new bus facility near UBC Okanagan is ready, he said.
Mac Logan, General Manager of Infrastructure, confirmed the transit limitations.
鈥淲e have some incremental improvements coming with BC Transit on the Hardy yards where we will be able to add some new vehicles, but only a handful. We're also able to add hours of service. Beyond that, we are working diligently towards a new garage.鈥�
Councillor Rick Webber wasn鈥檛 convinced the timing of the pilot project made sense.
鈥淭he one thing our staff can鈥檛 say is we鈥檙e going to move faster on getting more service or more buses. We know for sure it isn鈥檛 going to happen in any major way for at least five years. Timing is everything.鈥�
But Coun. Loyal Wooldridge pushed back, saying it was unrealistic to expect to have everything all at once.
鈥淎s much as I think we鈥檇 like to see everything match up perfectly, that we have the infrastructure, bus service, and housing all at the exact same time and we鈥檒l all sing Kumbaya, it鈥檚 just not the way the world works.鈥�
He emphasized that the work being done is necessary and will take time. 鈥淗opefully we鈥檒l see this through.鈥�
Deputy Mayor Luke Stack reminded everyone that this is just a pilot project.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of longer transit-supportive corridors that are not included in this. It gives us an opportunity, if this goes all the way through the process, to try to see what pre-zoning looks like.鈥�
麻豆精选 needs to build 18,000 new housing units by 2031, but how many of those will be along these transit corridors remains to be seen.
In the end, council voted to move ahead to the next phase of the pilot鈥攑ublic engagement鈥攚ith Cannan opposed.
