Garden suites could be permitted in all single-family residential areas of Victoria under changes being proposed by city staff.
In an effort to promote more affordable housing, Victoria has encouraged garden suites, also known as carriage houses or laneway suites, for more than a decade. But the uptake has been small, Jonathan Tinney, director of sustainable planning and community development, said in a report going to councillors on Thursday.
Since 2004, just 29 applications have been received, and only 18 of those submitted have been completed. That compares poorly to Vancouver (even after the difference in population and laneway access are factored in) where a laneway housing program has been in place since 2009.
In the City of Vancouver, more than 800 permits for laneway housing have been issued and more than 500 built.
Coun. Chris Coleman, council liaison to Fairfield/Gonzales, where several carriage houses have been built, is open to the discussion, especially given the comparison with Vancouver.
“I think there is an opportunity to do more with garden suites, but I recognize that council is hesitant because it’s about giving up control, and not all neighbours like them,” Coleman said.
While there are likely several reasons for the low uptake, it is likely that Victoria’s process for approval is “onerous” — something that would be lessened by removing the need for rezoning, Tinney said.
He said that homeowners wanting to build a garden suite also have to go through the standard building and development permit processes. Adding the rezoning process on top of that could be “a disincentive.”
“They may lack the time, funds, expertise or have other barriers to entering into this [rezoning] process,” his report said.
Coleman said even if the change is made, it will still allow for control over aspects such as site and design, as other provisions of the garden-suite policy, including setbacks, height and footprint restrictions, would apply.
Coleman said Victoria took a “cautious” approach with its garden-suite policy, limiting them in size to 525 square feet.
Tinney is recommending council delegate to staff its development-permit approval process.
He said delegating authority has the potential to:
• significantly expedite the development permit process
• increase the number of applications by making the process more accessible
• demonstrate the city’s commitment to minimizing processes.
“I’m not sure that council will want to give up control of the discussion to allocate it to staff, but I’m open to that discussion, too,” Coleman said.
Tinney recommends that before approving the changes, council seek input from community-association land-use committees, members of the Mayor’s Task Force on Housing Affordability and groups that provided input to the task force.
