I was delighted to see this draft statement (see below), prepared by City Staff, in this week’s Agenda.
It concisely states the need for additional homes in the right places – near sustainable transportation options – and some of the policy context for how the City is going to achieve that.
This is a nice addendum to the series of posts on Building in the Right Places: see posts 1, 2, 3 and 4.
And it also hints at a larger and more important point, that being regional trends. As I’ve noted before, the region is not on track to steer new development to areas served by sustainable transportation under the Regional Growth Strategy.
However, the good news is that recent provincial legislation requires other municipalities to issue statements like the one below. This doesn’t guarantee that they will all steer development to the right places, but it means they have to think about it, and so increases the probability.
I look forward to seeing how other municipalities in the region address this point.
“2.0 Statement on the Integration of Housing Near Transportation Infrastructure
The City of Victoria acknowledges the need for encouraging housing close to transportation infrastructure that supports walking, bicycling, public transit, or other alternative forms of transportation.
Walking, riding, rolling and taking public transit are all sustainable transportation options that contribute to a more vibrant and sustainable city. Integrating sustainable transportation with housing further supports the City’s objectives for creating a diverse, livable community.
The City’s Sustainable Mobility Strategy, GoVictoria, was adopted in 2019 and confirms our mobility values, policy positions, and key initiatives surrounding mobility. GoVictoria envisions a mobility future where all Victoria’s neighborhoods have connected mobility systems that include a variety of convenient, and sustainable mobility choices. Our rapid and frequent transit network anchors corridors with increased housing and employment density.
Building on GoVictoria, the 10 –Year Official Community Plan (OCP) Update that is currently underway, outlines the current and future direction for the City:
• Enable more housing density in and near Mobility Hubs and along transit priority corridors to strengthen the business case and rationale for more frequent and new forms of transit service. The active transportation and shared mobility networks will also converge in these locations, allowing all systems to reinforce each other.
• Proposes an Urban Structure Concept, a land use and transportation framework, that aligns where people live and work with ways to get around Victoria. This concept includes transit routes and frequency of service that responds to the concentrations of jobs and housing.
• Promotes active transportation with more housing options within a five-minute walk to services, amenities, and sustainable, affordable transportation options contributes to complete, low-carbon communities.
Overall, the integration of land use planning and transportation is a key component of the City’s existing Official Community Plan and the 10-Year OCP Update affirms this direction with a continued emphasis on the creation of complete and connected communities.”
This Statement can be found in Attachment 1 of Committee Agenda item F2, Interim Housing Needs Report).