Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon (Image Credit: Flickr / Province of B.C.)

By Doug Collins

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Big Brother is not only watching — he’s acting

Nov 10, 2023 | 6:00 AM

BIG BROTHER HAS HAD ENOUGH. He has decided those of us who live in his inner sanctum know more than those of us who make up the vast majority of B.C.’s populace. He has decreed that decisions relating to housing will be made by some dweeb sitting at a desk in Victoria who will decide what kind of housing we will have.

The new plan virtually takes zoning out of the hands of a community and allows multi-family units on single-family lots. The whole idea is to provide more opportunities for “affordable” housing. At this point it is all speculation.

The province is in charge of housing, so they’re doing nothing wrong. We know these regulations will effectively kill single-family housing. Not necessarily bad, because we need to infill, and build more “up” than “out”. We do not want to have another Calgary, where they have spread out so far and destroyed so much valuable land that it’s really criminal.

And while I don’t mind increased density, it still has to be properly planned. I do not want some civil servant locked in a 10-by-10-square-foot office overlooking the back alleys behind the legislature, deciding what will be allowed in Aberdeen, Valleyview or Brocklehurst. You can’t take a map of Kamloops, mark in every green spot and mark “approved” for multi-family use. The city has to be involved in the planning process. It has to have input on whether the property is suitable and capable of development.

And then there is the problem of money for infrastructure, for streetlights, power, water, sewer, policing, park areas and development of housing that is sustainable financially. If a developer can’t sustain the facility, it won’t run.

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The city will need to change its Official Community Plan to meet the government’s new criteria. That will take time and money. And because rezoning will be automatic, developers can download costs to municipalities without the normal negotiation process that helps develop the infrastructure costs and how the costs will be shared. We’ve just put in some major work on new water and sewer lines. But they won’t accommodate the needs of increased growth.

Reaction among some municipal leaders has been positive, but most realize that this has all the earmarks of another rush job by the NDP to treat a critical problem with a Band-Aid instead of a dressing.

One analyst said he thinks municipal leaders are just creating an “excuse” when they raise concerns. Not true, in my opinion. Municipalities want to solve the problem, and there should be no doubt about that. But ‘one size fits all’ will not work. Radically changing the density of an established single-family neighbourhood will take time and money. It won’t be done by waving the magic NDP wand.

Would the rush have anything to do with an October election next year?

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.