This is the first pillar in my civic platform.
Development has always been a major issue in Surrey, ever since it’s inception many moons ago. This young city has always been a place of rapid growth and change, and projections show this will continue for a long time to come. In fact, it’s estimated that within 20 odd years, Surrey’s population will surpass that of Vancouver’s.
Now, it’s certainly debatable on how well Surrey has handled this growth throughout the years. I will definitely admit that with our sidestepping of the LRSP and a continuous “anything for development” attitude, our reputation around these parts has always been that of the raunchy stepchild. The attitude still pervades the city, even despite the boot of Doug McCallum - Dianne Watts certainly hasn’t slowed anything down, or taken a long term look at the impacts of certain developments. Just take a look at Campbell Heights.
While we may be beginning to make bigger steps in terms of density by building townhomes rather than single-family houses (which I would argue is for due to the market forces of high housing costs and developers wanting the most bang for their buck), there is still a *ton* of work to do.
What new do I bring to the table?
I can tell you right now that development can be good - if it’s done properly. So I’m not about to halt all future growth in the city. However, that does not mean that all developments must proceed. Council has a duty to only accept those which advance the wellbeing of the city as a whole. And with the plans I lay out below, I will ensure that the city of Surrey becomes a national leader in terms of sustainable development.
1. Green Building Strategy.
This one is big. Building structures have a huge effects on our communities, depending on their size, style, and efficiency. Buildings can contribute not only to huge energy savings, but also to substantial reductions in greenhouse gases - if they are built sustainably. Cities across the world have implemented Green Building strategies, typically in accordance to the LEED certification system.
Under LEED, new buildings, or major retrofits, take a look at a checklist of options that make a development greener. Depending on how many they fit, they will get a better and better LEED certification. LEED certification has proven to only cost approximatively 2% more than existing construction costs, and will produce huge savings down the line.
Most cities have the strategy applied simply to municipal buildings. Some even give incentives to private developments to encourage them to adopt the specifications.
Surrey will go ten steps farther to establish itself as a true leader in this space and to take a major step forward in the fight against climate change.
Obviously, all details and specifics regulations or targets would be marked down by staff, but here’s a general idea of what the strategy would be:
Beginning immediately, all new and major retrofitted civic buildings most adopt a LEED Gold certification - the most stringent in North America. The City must broker an agreement with the Board of Education that all schools will follow the same standard. In addition, major incentives will be given to private developers to encourage them to adopt the new standards. This includes a fasttracked system for building permits, a huge reduction in the cost of the building permit, and a huge reduction in DCCs (development cost charges), all based on what level of LEED certification has been proposed. These rebates will be offset a year or two later with the introduction of a levy on all new developments that do not feature LEED certification. Over time, again, based on the level of LEED certification that has been proposed, the “carrots” or incentives will decrease, and the “sticks” or disincentives will increase. This will continue to the point, over the course of a good 8 years, where all new developments in Surrey are LEED certified.
Such a plan gives developers a timeline to work off of to ensure they receive the best deal possible, and potentially avoid larger taxation in the future. With this reasonable market based system, Surrey can ensure that it lowers in carbon footprint, which increases it’s citizens overall wellbeing. In addition, Surrey will be a newfound national leader in the transition to a green economy.
2. Affordable Housing Strategy
As housing prices continue to escalate, hopeful homeowners have been priced out of the market for a single family house. Meanwhile, new options have sprung up, such as condos and townhomes, providing residents with brand new housing for an achievable pricetag. However, as of 2005, the average annual income of a citizen of Surrey is $32,000. And considering a whopping 90% of citizens are not in a common law relationship, the typical formula of having two people share a mortgage is no longer the reality. In fact, it is doubtful a large majority of residents can even afford to buy *any* form of housing.
Although renting continues to be an affordable alternative to home ownership, these citizens are unlikely to ever be able to enter the ownership market. In such a system, we are simply expanding the split between “haves” and “have nots” - something which has huge societal rebounds in the future.
An affordable housing strategy depends on a variety of measures to ensure that *all* citizens in Surrey can afford to live in reasonable accommodations. The strategy I’m proposed has four major sections.
- 1) The legalisation of secondary suites: This has been talked a lot for a long time, but has failed to be implemented in law by the current council. Such legislation will ensure that secondary suites are safe and built to the appropriate codes, in addition to providing tenants with legal venues for protection from landlords. This step can be done quickly and efficiently and will improve the housing stock in the City.
- 2) A market based incentives program similar to that of the Green Building Strategy: The City should set a baseline for the price a typical housing unit shall cost to be deemed “affordable”. For example, in Austin, the City that this program is based off of, deems “affordable” to be developments that are accessible to citizens at or below 80% of the average median family income for the area. Based on this bar of accessibility, the City gives developers incentives based on the number of affordable units in the development. These incentives should include an expedited building permit, and could also include a reduction in the building permit cost. The goal should be to provide affordable housing for all those at or below the average median family income. For example, if 30% of Surrey’s population fits this designation, then the City’s goal should be to have 30% of all housing priced for this bracket of the market. I believe that this market based approach to increasing affordable units in Surrey is far more sustainable than having the City build and run it’s own units.
- 3) Homeless partnerships: The City needs to proceed with partnerships for homeless shelters with the ultimate goal of having enough beds for the City’s full homeless population. Homeless shelters are an essential piece of the puzzle to helping those less fortunate get back on their feet. Most shelters include bathing facilities, food, and support staff. With these facilities in place, we can ensure that the homeless, or those at risk of becoming homeless, have a place to get help and, in due course, get a job and likely live in one of the proposed affordable housing units from the second section of the Strategy.
- 4) Ensure that the City has a large, diverse market of housing units: This follows the simple economics of supply and demand. If we ensure there is enough supply to meet, or even potentially exceed, demand, then we are ensuring that prices aren’t artificially inflated for housing. This strategy will be met with other initiatives in the Vibrant Communities pillar.
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