Saanich council approved a development permit this week for a six-storey affordable housing development in the Nigel Valley neighbourhood.
“We can actually get them delivered in a pretty short amount of time,” he said, noting the technical requirements have more or less already been met. “The other component is that it’s in a highly desirable area. It is in such close proximity to shopping and services and major transportation — this is going to be a big help for people who move into this neighbourhood.”
“When it’s finished, it will be a fully built out community of affordable and supportive homes for people with a range of needs and a range of incomes to be able to live,” said Murdock.The district’s most recent housing progress report, released in the spring, showed that while Saanich for the first time managed to exceed its own housing target in 2023, it fell far short in providing below-market-price housing.
Murdock said things have changed this year and the non-market sector has picked up. He points to the Nigel Valley as a shining example of making a good start.In February council approved the Capital Region Housing Corporation’s 110-unit lower-cost townhouse project on McCoy Road, and in June approved the rezoning of the Nellie McClung library site at the southwest corner of McKenzie Avenue and Cedar Hill Road to become a mixed-use project with up to 210 lower-cost housing units.
The program, designed for housing providers like B.C. Housing, the Capital Regional District and Pacifica Housing, delegates approval of development permits to staff, and rezoning won’t be needed to build to the maximum height allowed in the Official Community Plan.Council also agreed to eliminate parking requirements for non-market housing and to relax a bylaw that requires cash-in-lieu for trees that are not replaced after construction.