Victoria’s future could include more local villages and a push for family-friendly housing as the draft official community plan nears completion.
Council, sitting as committee, reviewed a 96-page report examining a series of questions posed by council members during a previous committee meeting in March. The report, compiled from a series of staff analyses, examined key issues related to housing and urban development, strategies to encourage family housing, and the expansion of priority growth areas.
Other topics included the feasibility of allowing six-storey non-market housing, reducing ACC's for affordable home ownership, limiting frontage work costs for non-market, better enabling galley-style housing, reducing costs for car-lite buildings, and ways to strengthen mass transit policies while improving transit priority measures.
After a marathon six-hour conversation covering those questions on April 3, Coun. Stephen Hammond said he heard again and again from the community that the options presented during engagement were “big everywhere or bigger everywhere.”
The current draft is a “developer’s wet dream and a renter’s nightmare,” he said, subsequently opposing sending the draft.
While council dug into the nitty gritty, the latest draft of the OCP remains a growth-focused plan, with recent updates introducing the Victoria 2050 City Action—a strategy aimed at accelerating family-friendly development and prioritizing its implementation.
The draft will also include more local village designations, adding Breakwater, Holland Point, Gonzales Bay, Richardson Street and Richardson Avenue, and Finlayson Street at Quadra Street. It would also expand East Fort Street Village to Ormond and Linden Avenue; expand Fairfield at Irving Village across Foul Bay Road and Richmond Road; and reduce the footprint of the proposed Richardson and St. Charles Village to focus on the intersection.
The mobility section will specify a goal of 16 per cent trips by transit and 54 per cent trips by walk, roll and cycle by 2038 for a combined total of 70 per cent. It would also identify a goal of 25 per cent trips by transit and 55 per cent trips by walk, roll and cycle by 2050 for a combined total of 80 per cent. The section would reflect policies that highlight the importance of light rail transit in the context of regional growth, housing needs and climate goals. It would also incorporate new policies and directions to emphasize planning, building momentum and developing a business case for light rail, and encourage families and youth to embrace car-lite and car-free lifestyles through safe infrastructure provision.
In a pitch from Coun. Marg Gardiner, staff will add five-year tree canopy (growth) targets in the draft OCP supporting a 40 per cent, city-wide 2050 tree canopy goal and five-year neighbourhood-level planting targets within to reach a 40 per cent by 2050.
The response includes incorporating new policies in the administration section to ensure bylaws and land-use decisions take a housing-priority approach, seeking to remove barriers to the development of housing while continuing to ensure the livability of the urban environment.
Referencing a “common refrain” from James Bay residents, Coun. Jeremy Caradonna explored allowing some modest reductions to priority growth areas in that community to “more equitably” distribute density, but did not see support around the table.
Up to six-storey residential development is envisioned for priority growth areas, near community and commercial nodes and along the transit priority network.
While Coun. Chris Coleman pitched a couple extra weeks to ruminate on the changes, both recommended by staff and tweaked during the meeting, he didn’t see enough support around the table.
Coun.Matt Dell noted that the traditional two-week spread between when an item appears at committee and comes back to council as a recommendation provides that time.
“I support this direction and think it’s going to be transformative in a positive way,” he said.
In 2021, Victoria’s population was about 94,900; by 2050, the city estimates the population will reach 142,000.
“I don’t think we randomly chose growth,” agreed Mayor Marianne Alto, noting it’s a desirable city, one that should welcome future residents.
Find the draft OCP online at https://www.victoria.ca/community-culture/official-community-plan.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct an earlier version regarding tree canopy.
