The District of Squamish is holding a public hearing to amend its zoning bylaw to allow affordable housing in any residential zoning in the community. According to the District, for housing to be considered affordable, it should cost no more than 30% of gross household income. For someone earning $70, 000, per year, housing costs should not exceed $1,750 per month.
The public hearing will be held on October 3 at 6 p.m. in the council chamber or can be taken part in electronically.
Squamish needs 9,600 new housing units by 2036 and 6,840 of those units must be built by 2031, according to a housing needs report by the District. As many as 42 per cent of those units will need to be affordable housing. One way to boost supply, District says, is to remove density limitations on affordable housing projects so they can be established across the community.
Proposed changes to the bylaw
The District says the proposed zoning amendments to its Zoning Bylaw will remove barriers and facilitate affordable housing in any zone where residential is a principal use.
Affordable housing projects will be allowed in any zone where residential is a principal use.
Allow the height of a principal building where all units are affordable housing to increase to 23 meters or six stories.
Exempt affordable housing buildings from lot coverage.
Apply a parking requirement of one space per dwelling unit for affordable housing units.
District also plans to amend bylaw to exempt gross floor area use for affordable housing. Separately, an amendment will be included to apply a maximum building height of 26.5 meters or 8 storeys, whichever is less, in any zone that may permit a taller building height.
District says it’s necessary to do a blanket zoning change because rezoning can be a lengthy process and it wants to reduce the time it takes for the completion of affordable housing projects such as The Spirit Creek affordable rental project in Dentville. As many as 22 per cent of people in a recent local survey say they are not able to consistently pay their mortgage. The findings are part of the 2023 Squamish Vital Signs report.
David+Colwell says
So what is the point of having public hearings? What is happening here is a form of ‘Dictatorship’! This Council has not listened and apparently will not.
Densification everywhere is the mantra for this town to follow regardless of the wishes of any of us.
David J Lassmann says
Squamish doesn’t need these housing units, developers and their customers do. There was a time when people lived in Squamish because they could make a living here. Those days are gone. We should not be deceived by the propaganda about “affordable housing”. Developers will soon stop building if their units are not affordable to prospective buyers. The real issue is who will pay for the “affordable housing”. Not the intended occupants to be sure. The reason that developers don’t want to build “low cost” housing is they can’t make a profit doing so. That is why socialized, subsidized housing is required.
D M says
The spirit creek rental project took forever to be completed, at that rate people will leave Squamish as they have been chased out by the district giving priority for profit developments that are built in no time. If you don’t built, people won’t move to Squamish. This council however is hell bent on high densification as if living in a metropolitan city.
David J Lassmann says
Maybe it’s time for a slate of candidates to run with the intention to change the District’s housing policies. However there are two possible problems with that idea. Firstly a municipal district is somewhat restricted by laws and regulations from the provincial government. Secondly it may well be that the majority of voters are content with the current policies.