The District of Oak Bay is not meeting the housing targets set by the province: A special advisor was appointd by B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon in January to deal with the issue.
The report was due to be available in late March but was not distributed until May 22. It found no evidence that Oak Bay is deliberately trying to circumvent the provincial legislation. It found Oak Bay is making reasonable efforts to meet the housing targets. Although there is no significant criticism in the report, it did highlight an “outdated OCP” (official community plan) as one issue in need of attention.
The significance of May 22 is that it was the first day of Oak Bay community meetings to gain input to update its OCP and zoning bylaw. I attended that meeting in person, shocked to discover that there had been no ongoing communication between the province and the municipality to help develop the OCP. It appears that the special advisor recommended an OCP in his report, but had no input into helping Oak Bay implement it. What a lost opportunity.
I respectfully suggest that much more can be gained from communication and teamwork between the province and municipality on such issues, rather than trading barbed comments between both sides that lead nowhere. Just imagine the positive outcome if we were all pulling together in the same direction.
Martin Howe
Oak Bay
