Long-awaited improvements to TransLink transit routes seemed to be a double-edged sword for the city councils of Surrey and White Rock as 2023 drew to a close.
In sweeping legislation to combat the housing crisis, introduced by the NDP provincial government in November, the presence of major transit routes appeared to one of the significant factors taking planning policy out of the hands of both cities – among others across B.C.
In meetings in late November and early December staff and councils in both cities were struggling to come to terms with what Bill 44, Bill 46 and Bill 47, if passed, would mean for their communities.
In White Rock, on Nov. 28, Mayor Megan Knight warned the legislation, summarized in a letter from housing minister Ravi Kahlon, might enable “a minimum of 20 storeys within 400 metres of a transit station – and there’s nothing we can say about it.”
It would take much zoning power away from the city, she said, as well the option to schedule public hearings – if projects are consistent with previous zoning established by the city’s Official Community Plan.
Community Amenity Contributions (CACs) which have previously been negotiated on a per-project basis, and which White Rock has relied on for such amenities as community and recreation centres, would also be replaced by a provincially-set structure of Amenity Cost Charges, chief administrative officer Guillermo Ferrero explained, while also noting the legislation would require all local governments to update OCPs and zoning bylaws by next June.
Knight raised particular concerns about Bill 47, which would allow the province to set minimum allowable heights and density of development in Transit Oriented Development (TOD) areas.
Local governments will be required to designate these areas near transit hubs, Knight noted. While the planned Bus Rapid Transit corridor along King George Boulevard will end at Semiahmoo Centre, she warned that future transit hubs could be located in White Rock.
In Surrey, city staff, including planning and development general manager Don Luymes, characterized the legislation as “planning with a sledgehammer” at a Dec. 4 meeting.
Luymes told councillors that staff believes the legislation represents government “over-reach” into areas of municipal jurisdiction, “rendering years of community planning and consultation…obsolete.”
As many as six units would be permitted on single-family lots close to frequently used transit, with no parking minimums, he warned, adding the move is likely to trigger a real estate/land assembly “frenzy” in stable single-family neighbourhoods close to transit.
Luymes said Surrey had already processed 5,100 housing units to that point in 2023, and that growth represented some 11,000 new residents each year.
He also said the rate of development suggested by the legislation could have a “quite dramatic” impact on drainage flows in such areas as the Nicomekl and Serpentine lowlands in South Surrey.
News of the legislation provided a new perspective to Surrey’s and White Rock’s joy at learning that a Whalley-King George Boulevard-Semiahmoo Centre corridor had been selected as one of three Bus Rapid Transit routes in Metro Vancouver, announced Nov. 16 by the Mayors Council on Regional Transportation.
Bus Rapid Transit, resembling rail-bound transit models, would feature dedicated lanes and signal priority at intersections along routes, plus main stops designed much more like transit stations.
Although a timeline has yet to be established for the Surrey route, Surrey city staff said it would be arguing for it to be the first Bus Rapid Transit Route in the region.
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke observed that Surrey ridership, post-pandemic “rebounded faster than any other really in Canada. We are at 120 per cent post-COVID, that’s our ridership. So absolutely we need this kind of transit and we need it yesterday, actually.”
In White Rock, Knight said at the time she was well-satisfied with the route, noting that the final stop, at 152 Street and 16 Avenue, will be easily accessible to White Rock residents, who will be able to change to the BRT from existing city and South Surrey bus routes.
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Meanwhile, as strata councils and municipal councils across the province were reacting to provincial legislation that they no longer had control over rental units in their communities, another organization was warning that adopting 55 year-or-plus age bylaws for the properties could not be considered a loophole to get out of providing rentals.
A Feb. 10 announcement by Premier David Eby of a $1-billion grant for local government infrastructure had Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke hopeful that some $80 million would be coming to the city – which among other things could help prepare for future growth and build amenities to support new home construction.
Housing was one of the main topics of a public conversation with federal finance minister Chrystia Freeland at the Sheraton Guildford on March 30, sponsored by the Surrey Board of Trade.
Board president Anita Huberman asked how the 2023 federal budget would benefit Surrey, in light of the fact that the city has the greatest number of newcomers and refugees in the province.
Freeland, agreeing that more new housing is needed, pointed to a 2022 $10-billion housing plan which was still in operation, including a $4-billion housing accelerator program announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier that month, designed to speed up construction of 100,000 homes across Canada over the coming decade.
The program requires municipalities like Surrey and White Rock to submit action plans on how they want to fast-track more affordable housing, she said.
Affordable housing – and how the current White Rock council defines it – continued to be an an issue in the city in 2023, particularly after it received a $5.7 million windfall from the the provincial Growing Communities Fund in March.
Council eventually decided, in June, to allocate $1.7 million of this to affordable housing, with $2 million going towards a proposed ‘community hub’ project which could also include a “supported” housing component, as well as new staff offices, council chambers, a theatre/concert space and other facilities.
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Several major development projects were back before White Rock council in 2023, with “affordability” as a new selling point.
One was an already-approved two-tower, multi-family residential building planned for 1454 Oxford St. Formerly known as the Elegant development, at the time it was approved as a phased development in 2017, it was back under new developer Rick Mann’s IOM Nautilus Views, Ltd., who were seeking an amendment that would increase density by 82 units – by making unit size smaller, and thus “more ‘affordable’ to more people,” in the words of Mayor Megan Knight.
An added incentive for White Rock was a further $2.5 million Community Amenity Contribution offered by the developer.
Many of the 60 people attending the subsequent public hearing, however, voiced concerns about traffic congestion and a lack of city infrastructure to support the project. But although council subsequently approved a six-month extension to the project it had not returned to chambers before the end of the year.
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On June 12 White Rock council balked at fast-tracking preliminary work for a 30-storey highrise proposal for North Bluff Road at Blackwood Street.
The combined highrise and mid-rise development proposal – a 30-storey building providing 374 market units plus a six-storey apartment complex providing 147 units – was strongly advocated by Couns. Bill Lawrence, Michele Partridge and Elaine Cheung, on the basis of the shortage of market and rental stock, and the provision of “affordable” single-bedroom and studio units.
Coun. Christopher Trevelyan rejected the argument, however.
“There’s no way you’re going to build yourself to affordability in the Lower Mainland,” he said. “You could build 20 30-storey towers in the city of White Rock – it’s not going to bring down housing prices.”
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On July 24, a long-delayed multi-unit rental development at Vidal Street and Thrift Avenue – which has returned to council over years in different iterations – was back for a public hearing, and was swiftly moved forward through third reading.
An overwhelming majority of residents who attended, along with those providing written submissions, were opposed to the project, most recently presented as a six-storey, 139-unit building.
They cited concerns with infrastructure, parking, tree-removal, and the size and character of the project – and the fact that only 14 of the suites could be classified as affordable rental housing.
This project had also not returned to chambers for final readings by the end of the year.
At an Aug. 14 special meeting White Rock council voted to continue the process for applying for federal funding to help increase the number of housing options for residents – including garden suites.
If accepted, the city could receive as much as $2.9 million through Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Housing Accelerator Fund for local governments.
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Protecting the environment was the core theme of the City of Surrey-sponsored 2023 Environmental Extravaganza – a series of events around the city – which included an April 22 (Earth Day) talk by urban forester Alexander Martin at Sanford Hall in South Surrey’s Kwomais Point Park.
Part of his theme was the necessity of revising what we consider the ‘norms’ of managing greenspace, in support of better habitat for wildlife. Among challenges of urban wildlife conservation, he said, is that instead of retaining decaying trees for habitat purposes, we are increasingly removing or ‘managing’ them for risk or risk mitigation.
Also in Surrey, internationally-esteemed scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster David Suzuki was a keynote speaker May 6 at the cross-border regional Rotary District 5050’s 2023 conference at the Sheraton Guildford, emphasizing the importance of foresight and responsibility in acting to preserve the environment – noting that most environmental disasters are now a a result of human action or inaction.