Vaughn Palmer: BC government to cities—Want transit? Allow high rises

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VICTORIA — The NDP government introduced legislation Tuesday to allow the provincial transportation authority to buy up land around transit stations and bus exchanges for housing and community development.

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The goal is to take a greater hand in shaping development along provincially funded transportation lines, said Transportation Minister Rob Fleming.

The amendments to the Transportation Act broaden the powers of the BC Transportation Financing Authority, the Crown corporation that oversees provincial transportation infrastructure.

Currently, the authority can buy land for transportation projects, but not for transit-related development.

“This has made it challenging to shape growth around station sites, increase housing density and help create complete, connected communities close to transit,” said the government news release.

“These changes will allow housing to be built in mixed-use developments, along with child care centres, shops and commercial services, schools and health-care centres, educational facilities, public gathering spaces and recreation centres.”

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Another amendment will allow the authority to dispose of the land it acquires “by lease for less than market rent,” to facilitate a sought-after mix of housing and other development.

The decision to lease out land at less than market rent has to be approved by the minister of finance.

The target zone for transit-related development is within 800 meters of a transit station or bus exchange.

The release said the province, through the transportation financing authority, “will deliver these projects by working with local governments and a broad range of partners.”

At one point, Fleming suggested that with the new land acquisition power, the province will gain the upper hand.

It will allow the province to “give municipalities the choice: Do you want public housing AND transit? Or do you want to take a pass on that?” the minister said.

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The legislation itself is not so clear cut.

Fleming had to acknowledge as much when asked if he’d consulted local governments in advance.

He did so through the Union of BC Municipalities and “they wanted to know that this was respecting their jurisdiction around land use decisions.”

The legislation does respect local jurisdiction over land use decisions. There is no override power in the amendments introduced on Tuesday.

The authority can acquire land for whatever purposes it wishes around transportation hubs.

The housing and other development will still have to be approved by local government — and all that entails, in terms of planning, consultation, public hearings and so on.

Still, the province could have more leverage if it proceeds as Fleming suggests, by tying transit funding in advance to specific housing and development targets.

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More often, the province (sometimes in partnership with Ottawa) has agreed to fund major transit projects without insisting on a tit-for-tat on housing development.

By way of a bad example, Fleming mentioned how “a lot of opportunities were missed for densification” when the Canada Line was built under the previous BC Liberal government.

Kevin Falcon was the transportation minister at the time, which doubtless explains why the NDP minister chose that example.

Fleming’s own government provides a more recent example in the development of the subway extension under Broadway in Vancouver.

The province put up almost two thirds of the almost $3 billion construction cost of the Broadway extension with Ottawa picking up the balance.

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Major construction began last spring.

But the promised housing along the route has yet to clear approval at Vancouver city council.

The holdup on “thousands and thousands of units” had Housing Minister David Eby complaining earlier this year that at this rate, “the subway is going to be done before the Broadway corridor plan is approved.”

Fleming says he’s confident that the plan will be approved when it goes to a vote at city council in May.

It calls for adding 30,000 units of housing and 50,000 residents along the corridor over 30 years. In keeping with provincial priorities, the plan recommends mixed-use developments of up to 40 storeys around subway stations.

The plan has already undergone some downsizing, as Dan Fumano reported in The Vancouver Sun recently.

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A proposal to develop 25-storey apartment buildings in some areas was scaled down to 20 storeys.

There are concerns that the 20 per cent reduction in height will undercut the economics of what is supposed to be affordable rental housing.

The change was made after the city heard “loud and clear” from residents that the heights were excessive.

Eby, whose Vancouver riding overlaps with the Broadway corridor, has endorsed the plan as a step in the right direction.

“I just don’t want to miss this opportunity,” he told Fumano.

Fleming was asked how much additional housing the province is seeking on the other major transit project it is backing — the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension.

He could provide no numbers, saying the talks were still in the exploratory phase.

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There’s time to talk. A business plan for the extension is due this fall.

Construction is not expected to start until next year. The line won’t be in service until 2028 at the earliest.

The project is estimated to cost $4 billion, with Ottawa putting up $1.3 billion and the province on the hook for the rest.

If the province were serious about getting what it wants on housing, this would be the time to use its leverage on the Surrey-Langley project.

Instead of committing to the $2.7 billion and then waiting around to see what emerges in terms of housing, make the one conditional on the other.

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