Sixteen mayors from Metro Vancouver have penned an open letter to B.C. Premier David Eby, outlining concerns with bills 44 and 47 and provincial overreach into municipal decision-making.
“The letter… expresses our collective concerns with the limited coordination and consultation by the province with local governments in developing Bills 44 and 47 (2023), the misalignment of province-wide requirements with the Metro Vancouver region’s land use and infrastructure context and regional planning frameworks,” the letter states.
“We’re just writing to the premier appealing to them to roll back this legislation, allow local governments to do what they were elected to do,” Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley said at a press conference on Thursday.
“Six units on a single family lot under 7,000 square feet just doesn’t work. And especially if you add into that, no parking. How is that going to work in our communities? Just that little piece by itself, where we already… refereeing amongst residents over parking on streets.”
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Bill 44 requires municipalities to allow up to four units on a standard residential lot.
Bill 47 requires density around transit hubs, and grocery stores and small businesses within walking distance of homes.
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“In Metro Vancouver, we know that we have a housing crisis,” Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said.
“This is not new news. And we all understand the need to increase the supply of the housing units, but the housing legislation in its various iterations that’s been brought in over time is completely the wrong approach that that has been taken by the provincial government.”
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Delta Mayor George Harvie said the provincial legislation has not helped with the housing crisis in his city.
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“We have 1,200, approximately, approvals of units, and we get these nice fancy letters from the province saying, congratulations, here’s the next number you have. But none of those, none of those have been built,” he said.
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“We need the province to get, you know, take a pause. Stop using this legislation on us and work with us to see how we can get the economy going again. In Delta, we have absolutely no building with regards to projects that have already been proved and through our system very quickly. Nothing, nothing is happening.”
The letter was signed by:
- Mayor Ken Berry, Village of Lions Bay
- Mayor Malcolm Brodie, City of Richmond
- Mayor George Harvie, City of Delta
- Mayor Megan Knight, City of White Rock
- Mayor Megan Lahti, City of Port Moody
- Mayor Mike Little, District of North Vancouver
- Mayor Brenda Locke, City of Surrey
- Mayor Nicole MacDonald, City of Pitt Meadows
- Mayor John McEwan, Village of Anmore
- Mayor Jamie Ross, Village of Belcarra
- Mayor Dan Ruimy, City of Maple Ridge
- Mayor Mark Sager, District of West Vancouver
- Mayor Richard Stewart, City of Coquitlam
- Mayor Bred West, City of Port Coquitlam
- Mayor Eric Woodward, Township of Langley
B.C. Housing Minister Christine Boyle said the province’s legislation is working to bring down rents, increase vacancy rates and improve housing options.
“We, as a provincial government, are focused on delivering homes for people in the communities that they love and we’re seeing this work make a difference,” she said.
“We’ll keep listening to local governments, but we’re not going backwards.”
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