Housing Act goes against needs of rural residents
Govt adding costs that PRRD can't bear
Peace River Regional District directors advocated pushing back against the requirements surrounding British Columbia’s new housing policies. Bill 44 – the Housing Statutes (Residential Development) Act – passed at the end of November, comes with regulations which mandate changes to zoning bylaws and Official Community Plans for regional districts throughout the province.
These are changes that PRRD directors say go against the needs and wants of people in rural communities, as well as putting pressure on staff who are already working at full capacity.
At the January 11 regular board meeting, directors discussed the impacts complying with these regulations will have on the workload of district staff and the finances of the PRRD.
This additional expense and workload are similar to the work that accompanies the new Emergency and Disaster Management Act, which requires regional districts to completely revamp their emergency plans.
Between the changes needed to meet the province’s requirements for both these pieces of legislation, regional district staff will be stretched to the limit, and additional staff will be needed to get the job done. Although the government is mandating these changes, the burden falls on the regional district.
“I don’t doubt we’re not the only ones running into this,” said Area E Director Dan Rose. “It’s not really as applicable to regional districts as it is to municipalities, and I think they need to be made aware that they’re adding on costs that we can’t bear.”
Shawn Dahlen, Regional District Chief Administrative Officer said, “this is going to be very onerous for us as a regional district.”
The province has allocated $217,309 to the regional district to help pay for the additional staffing, but Director Allen Courtoreille of Chetwynd is concerned that this is “going to be another of those ones that we will have to fund the cost if we don’t meet what’s in the bill.”
“This only covers a small portion of us having to update zoning bylaws and OCPs. At best it’s one-third, depending on the amount of work that needs to be done,” said Dahlen.
According to a report prepared for the regional board, this means all five zoning bylaws and four OCPs will have to be updated. The time it takes to update even one bylaw is substantial. Complying with the legislation’s requirements also means that the OCPs will have to be updated two years ahead of schedule.
The legislation requires that changes be made to zoning bylaws to bring them into line, and all the amendments must be completed before June 30, 2024.
“Rural doesn’t need to do it, because we don’t have a housing crisis in northern BC,” said Tumbler Ridge Director Darryl Krakowka, who suggested the board push-back with letters before approving funds.
“We need to look for a way of not doing it, because if we do it, we’re going to own it and they’ll get away with it. I think we need to push back and say no, this isn’t necessary,” said Rose.
Fort St. John Director Lilia Hansen said she felt the board’s hands are tied. “We didn’t have this amount budgeted, yet we have no choice in order to meet the province’s deadlines, and the requirements they’re giving us.”
Hansen added that she’s heard Kamloops is putting together a list of the extra costs that have been downloaded to them. While she didn’t want to add even more work to regional district staff, she thought this might be worth pursuing.
Dahlen agreed that this is a good idea, especially if the regional district ends up having to pass the extra expenditures on to the taxpayers. “It’s my understanding that Kamloops might tally this up and send the province a bill.”
“I don’t think it’s fiscally responsible for the government to be able to force regional districts to do this,” said Jordan Kealy, Area B Director. “I don’t see this as good governance when we can’t handle the workload, and this is going to happen with several different bills. I think Director Rose is correct in the fact that we do have to provide some push-back and not just accept it.”
“If this keeps up, it’s not going to end up in a good place.”
The provincial government continually paints rural communities with a one-size-fits-all paintbrush without taking the impacts on budgets and available resources into consideration.
“This is the reason many municipalities have spoken out against Bill 44,” Pouce Coupe Director Danielle Veach said. “These changes that the government keeps downloading go against the needs and wants of people in rural communities.”
“We should continue to push-back and advocate for our northern residents,” she said.
Dawson Creek Director Darcy Dober agreed, adding that because there is no housing crisis in the PRRD, implementing the changes the government has ordered is irrelevant.
Kealy asked Dahlen how many staff positions would have to be created to make the changes required in the Housing Statutes Act and the Emergency Management and Disaster Act, and what would the cost be.
“How long is a piece of string?” Dahlen replied.
The funds have already been allocated regarding housing, he said, and that money from the province will be with the regional district at the end of the month. But regarding the Emergency Management and Disaster Act, Dahlen couldn’t put a number on it.
“Honestly at this time I couldn’t say what the costs are,” he said. “My understanding is this isn’t just one plan for the PRRD or each electoral area. This is multiple plans for the regional district, multiple plans for each electoral area.”
“It’s going to be a very extensive piece of work. What I can say is we currently don’t have the resources to do all of that work in-house.” Being in northern BC, it may not be possible to retain the necessary resources to meet the timeline, even if the PRRD had the funds.
“We’re going to see bill after bill downloaded like this, and it’s not sustainable,” said Kealy.
Courtoreille wondered what the consequences will be if the PRRD is not able to deliver the amendments on time.
“Are they going to give an idea, or just give us the hammer at the end and say you didn’t get all your ducks in a row?” asked Courtoreille. “It’s going to come to where we’re responsible. As Director Krakowka says, we don’t have that opportunity to push-back if we vote for something that we said we accepted.”
If the PRRD fails to meet the new legislative requirements, it could become subject to a ministerial order which would override the existing zoning bylaws.
The board voted to direct staff to record the time and labour required for the work on the new legislation for housing and emergency management.
The board also voted to write a letter to BC ‘s Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon expressing its concern over the lack of funding and the unrealistic timelines required by Bill 44, and request that the requirement to prepare significant background reports and studies to support and extension request, should one be sought, be removed, and although the board understands why the province is doing this, there is no current housing crisis in the Peace Region and the associated time and costs are not necessary for the PRRD.