Significant B.C. Zoning Changes for Fall 2023: The Missing Middle Upzoning & Secondary Suites "As-Of-Right" Updates

Four months ago, in one of my irregular updates regarding the latest news in provincial housing policy and legislation (specifically on the Housing Supply Act ), Norm Van Eeden Petersman asked a surprisingly prophetic question: “Do you have any thoughts on which jurisdictions we can look at that are doing something similar [to improve housing supply]? Oregon, California, New Zealand, etc?”

While this was outside of the scope of the Housing Supply Act, this certainly was a matter discussed in both the Province’s recent press release and in their supplementary policy document titled “Homes for People: An action plan to meet the challenges of today and deliver more homes for people, faster ”. While the proposed scope of potential changes and additions to the Province’s toolbox are wide-ranging and extraordinary, I wanted to focus in on two key proposed zoning changes potentially upcoming in legislation for Fall 2023. That said, this is only a policy document – and not legislation.

As it turns out, it appears that the Province is looking at fundamental zoning reformation, using New Zealand, Oregon, and California as case-studies to expand small-scale multi-unit housing opportunities from the Pacific to the Rockies. As identified in PDF pages 16-18 of the Homes for People policy document , the Province is considering two fundamental changes to provincial zoning legislation as summarized below:

1. The Missing Middle Upzoning Update; and
2. The Secondary Suites “As-Of-Right” Update.

And so, without further ado, let's take a closer look ...

(1) Missing Middle Upzoning Update: As mentioned above, the Province intends to “change the existing restrictive zoning approach” that makes the pursuit of small-scale multi-unit residential development difficult for many smaller real estate developers and home-owners. One key example is the potential onerous requirement of a time-intensive and costly zoning amendment, an endeavor that might not actually receive municipal approval in the end!

To this end, the Province intends to introduce legislation that will apply to many areas of the province, and will allow up to 3-to-4 units on a traditional SFD lot (depending on site dynamics) as of right - with the potential for more in "areas well-served by transit" - by Fall 2023.

For those who are curious as to what "areas well-served by transit" actually means, we can only infer the intent from jurisdictions mentioned by the policy document. As a speculative example, here's a small snippet from a commentary on California Senate Bill 10 which refers to these particular areas as parcels within one-half mile of a major transit stop, or parcels located along high quality bus corridors (image linked below)

More interestingly, on page 17 of Homes for People , they clearly identify those jurisdictions they might take inspiration from for their future legislative updates: Oregon, California, and New Zealand. It's just like you predicted, Norm!

As a final note, the Province further notes that “we will work with municipalities and partners on this zoning change, taking into consideration the different types of lots, building setbacks and height requirements. We’ll also work with local governments towards creating effective inclusionary zoning processes.”

As T'Brenn Kelly-McKinnon, RPP, MCIP has rightly pointed out, those communities that are more cunning (and "wicked") may attempt to "regulate" this inclusionary zoning update out of their cities and towns by other untoward means. One example is the indiscriminate and inappropriate use of Development Permits, which could tie up perfectly good applications with endless and onerous design reviews. Therefore, it will be interesting to see if this zoning update will be paired with a nuanced discussion on Development Permit powers - which if used correctly with this Missing Middle Upzoning Update, could really make these "missing middle" neighbourhoods into truly incredible places.

(2) Secondary Suites “As-Of-Right” Update: The Province will also be simultaneously be introducing legislation to outright permit secondary suites in every community no matter where you are. Looks like the days of exclusionary rental zoning (AKA, “no secondary suites allowed ever in our neighbourhood!”) for accessory dwelling units are coming to an end. This is quite sensible, as secondary suites make up over two-thirds (66%) of all available rental stock in British Columbia.

However, two questions immediately arise in my mind:

First, what is the full intended scope of this proposed secondary suite “upzoning”? Is it to prevent a general prohibition on secondary suites, or is it for something much more? Seeing as secondary suites are permitted in duplexes, triplexes, and townhouses under the BCBC (as adopted in 2019) … well, things could get spicy to say the least. If secondary suites are permitted in ground-oriented multi-family residential dwellings under the BCBC, then would they also be part of the Missing Middle Upzoning Update?

And second, will other Local Government Act powers, such as minimum off-street parking requirements, also apply? Would a municipality still be permitted to set these regulatory requirements? This makes sense, as residents often express their concerns over adequate parking on any number of development sites (no matter its scale or intensity). And again, if setting conditions beyond zoning but also within the jurisdiction of a local government is the intent (and rightly so), how do we prevent the cunning and "wicked" from using this permissive freedom to hinder secondary suite "as-of-right" implementation across the Province?

Interesting food for thought. I look forward to what the Province might bring us all next.