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B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon did his best Tuesday to quell fears from municipal politicians concerned about the negative effect the planned upzoning of single-family neighbourhoods across the province could have on their communities.
Kahlon spoke to mayors at a Union of BC Municipalities housing summit held in Vancouver the day after he and Premier David Eby unveiled the government’s housing strategy, which includes introducing legislation that will allow up to four units on a single-family lot.
“These changes that we’re proposing don’t mean that it’ll be only single-dwelling homes that are built in those communities — it means that there’s going to be options available,” Kahlon told reporters after participating in a panel discussion that included mayors from Surrey, Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Kelowna, Victoria and a councillor from Squamish. …
Many of the cities represented on the panel have already proceeded with plans to allow more types of housing in neighbourhoods, including Vancouver and Richmond. But what concerns Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie is what more people living in communities will mean for infrastructure.
“What happens if you don’t have the infrastructure in place — are you still going to allow fourplexes everywhere?” Brodie said during the panel discussion. “What about the traffic studies that you normally do every time…how is that going to work?”
Brodie continued on his point, saying the number of police officers, firefighters, schools and hospitals should also be considerations when allowing more density to a city. Adding more density would likely mean cutting down more trees, too, he said.
“To me, if you’re going to have a fourplex on any property, you’re going to cut down every tree that’s on there,” he said. “What about the character of the neighbourhoods and the character of your city? And what about the disparity in the lot sizes, shapes and forms?” …
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