Member Newsletter – June 2, 2017

Real Estate Legal Issues

UDI
will be having a Real Estate Legal Issues Committee Meeting on June 14th.
We will be meeting with the Manager of Audit and Compliance and Property
Transfer Tax (PTT) from the Province to discuss several questions relating to
the implementation of the foreign buyers’ tax.

MUNICIPAL  

City of Vancouver
False Creek Flats Local Area Plan – UDI Letter to Council May 16th,
2017 encouraging a better mix of land
uses than what was approved.

Vancouver
City-wide Development Cost Levy (DCL) – Stakeholder meeting: June 7th,
10am-12pm Committee Room 1, 3rd Floor City Hall RSVP to Chris Clibbon, Financing Growth Planner.

Vacancy Tax – an FAQ document which addresses UDI’s questions will be posted in the next 2 business days. We will send out the link to members when it is live. 

UDI Speech for Chinatown Rezoning – Anne McMullin spoke in support of the Chinatown
Plan at a City of Vancouver Public Hearing for 105 Keefer Street & 544
Columbia Street Rezoning. View her speech here.

Heritage Action Plan (HAP) – The City of Vancouver is having two open houses on June 10th and June 12th
on the City’s Heritage Conservation Program.

Character Homes – The City hosted three open houses to review the proposed
incentives and draft design guidelines for retaining character homes in
single-family (RS) zones across the city. View the open house information boards. Share your views on the proposed
zoning incentives and draft design guidelines for Character Home Retention. The
questionnaire is open until June 18th.

City
of Richmond

Affordable
Housing Strategy – Focus group June 6th,
12-2pm at Richmond City Hall. RSVP to affordablehousing@richmond.ca More info here.

Electric
Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in New Developments – Stakeholder meeting June 27th, 1-3pm RSVP to knishi@richmond.ca. More
info here.

City of Burnaby

The next UDI/Burnaby Liaison Committee Meeting is on June
19th. The topics to be discussed at the next meeting include: 

• Processing timelines – specifically on the
  building permit process;
• The Burnaby Metrotown Plan which is being
  finalized and will likely be brought to Council sometime this summer; and
• New groundwater management requirements – view
  the letter Burnaby staff sent to developers.

City of Coquitlam

UDI and the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association (GVHBA)
wrote a joint
letter regarding parking requirements for ground-oriented multi-family
housing and secondary suites in single-family housing. The information was
presented to Council and the item has been deferred until the end of June. This
issue will be discussed at our upcoming Liaison Committee on June 16th.
TransLink staff will also be attending to discuss
building requirements near transit guideways.  

Township of Langley

The
last UDI/Township of Langley Liaison Meeting was on Wednesday, May 24th.
At this meeting we discussed: 

• Development
  Charges;
• Sales
  Centres; and
• The
  Township’s neighbourhood plans.

The
Township has been reviewing their CACs and is now going to concurrently review
their DCC program. A subcommittee has been formed and will meet with the
Township to give feedback on this review. As noted in the previous newsletter, UDI
sent a letter
to the Township regarding sales centers being accommodated in the zoning by-law.  UDI received a response
from the Township who have made this issue a priority. The next Liaison Committee meeting will be
scheduled in September.

City of Langley

The City
of Langley is hosting open houses on June 6 and June 8 concerning the
City’s draft zoning bylaw.

For your
information, please also refer to the following additional attachments:

1. Draft Zoning Bylaw No. 3000
2. Draft Zoning Bylaw No. 3000 – Summary

UDI will be attending the June 6th open house. If you have any
comments, please let us know.

City of Surrey

At the last Surrey Development Advisory Committee (DAC)
meeting on April 27th, Surrey staff presented two presentations
on district
energy and increases to street
planning costs. View the memo on Street Tree Planting here.
The next Surrey DAC will be June 22nd.

City of Maple Ridge

UDI
had a Liaison Committee Meeting with the City of Maple Ridge on Friday, May 26th.
We had a general discussion on the Energy Step Code, the GVHBA Housing Approval Study, expanding employment lands, and increasing
requirements for subdivision boulevards. We will form a subcommittee to discuss
the proposed requirements for subdivision boulevards. The next Liaison Committee
meeting will be in September.

City of Abbotsford

UDI Board Member, Diane Delves, and UDI staff
attended a meeting at the City of Abbotsford on a planning process to identify
areas for future industrial growth. UDI was very supportive of the City’s
endeavor. Abbotsford hosted two open houses for the public to find out more
about the proposals. More information on areas the City has identified as
potential industrial zones is here.