ROTHENBURGER: Eby’s housing strategy is pushing us back into little boxes

There are 10 cities on the list, all of which were recently given quotas for the number of units they must build over an unspecified period of time. The magic number for Kamloops is 4,236. Among other cities on the list are Vancouver, Victoria, Abbotsford and Port Moody. B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says the numbers are “based on an amalgam of population growth and housing data, together with discussion and input from the 10 municipalities during the summer months.”

Kamloops City council is on record with Kahlon as being opposed to provincial government interference with local government land-use decision-making authority.

The Tournament Capital is on another list, too. It has been added to B.C. communities that will be subjected to the province’s speculation and vacancy tax, along with the likes of Vernon and several other Okanagan cities, plus Salmon Arm, Comox and others. It’s to discourage vacation properties and so on from being left empty.

And now, Eby, Kahlon and all even want to tell cities what housing should look like — they’re going to hire a consultant to create standardized designs for townhouses, triplexes and laneway homes. These, they say, will speed up housing and make it cheaper.

The cornerstone of all this, of course, is the year-old Housing Supply Act with which the province basically stripped cities of planning and zoning authority and mandated that up to six units can now be jammed onto single-family lots at its say-so.

This fixation on building more housing, no matter what, has local governments stampeding to get on the bandwagon, whether or not they agree with the Eby approach. Parking requirements are being relaxed in favour of squeezing more units into the same space. The holy grail of housing development takes precedence over good planning. Anything that adds housing in any form these days is almost sacrosanct and bound to receive nods of approval.

An example of how this is seeping into neighbourhoods is a panhandle subdivision of a lot on Oxford Street that received approval from Kamloops City council a few weeks ago over the objections of two councillors.

The subdivision itself was simple enough. A separate lot is to be created behind an existing house by way of a panhandle access running down one side of the property. The idea of an extra lot and another house was very attractive to most of the councillors.

The need for more housing was mentioned frequently as council considered the panhandle application. Concerns were brushed aside as secondary.

Coun. Nancy Bepple — who made the motion a few months earlier objecting to provincial interference — said Kamloops needs 1,000 new housing units every year, and Brocklehurst is a

prime area to look to for densification because of its large lots. And, she pointed out, things change.

“When I was a kid I was making hay not too far from Oxford Street,” she said. She picked apples in the orchards that were once there, too. The “massively large lots” in Brocklehurst could be a prime source for densification, she said.

“We need housing and I’m gonna support it.”

Coun. Bill Sarai had a very different view. “It does not fit the neighborhood today and would not fit it in the future,” he said, warning that this particular application could set a precedent.

Sarai is onside with larger lots being used for duplexes and fourplexes but the impact of new housing on existing neighbourhoods has to be considered, he said, and panhandles aren’t a thing on Oxford Street.

Coun. Katie Neustaeter, offering assurances that she had “a lot of compassion” for the neighbourhood, was certain the owner of the lot could consult with the neighbourhood and “create a healthy environment.”

The application was approved 7-2, with Sarai and Coun. Margot Middleton in opposition.

This was a case of a micro neighbourhood issue being decided by a big, general objective.

When Pete Seeger recorded Little Boxes (it was written by composer Malvina Reynolds) it was in the context of the tract-housing movement of the ‘40s to ‘70s — build them small, tacky and affordable, with no concern about the long-term.

And that’s the problem with the current Eby homage to housing. What “fits” in a neighbourhood, or in a community’s vision for itself, is no longer part of the equation. We’re being dragged into a world both cluttered and cookie cutter.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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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.

by Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: Eby’s housing strategy is pushing us back into little boxes

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