CBC News
Municipalities in British Columbia are asking for more time to comply with the province’s new zoning laws.
Introduced in November, Bill 44 requires municipalities to rezone in order to increase small-scale, multi-unit housing in B.C. The province set a June 30 deadline for local governments to change zoning rules to make it easier to build townhomes, multiplexes and laneway houses.
The cities of Richmond and Coquitlam have requested an extension ahead of the deadline, citing a need to improve infrastructure. …
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said the city is “part way” through a project to improve sanitary sewer infrastructure in the Steveston neighbourhood. He said it’s important to finish the project, which was started in 2018, before increasing density in the area.
The city also wants to consult the public about the bill’s potential effects on the historical character of Steveston, which was crowned the best neighbourhood in Metro Vancouver by CBC readers in 2020.
“In Richmond, we have a major aversion to Bill 44 and what it is going to do to our single-family neighbourhoods,” Brodie said.
“We have shown that we can handle vast amounts for density, but we don’t need to do it by allowing sixplexes in every single-family lot, in every single-family neighbourhood in the entire city.” …