The Sun Peaks resort operator currently have 380 beds used for their own staff accommodation and are in the process of developing additional units. The resort operator is also assisting with the development of an employee housing project through the allocation of available land that will be available to all employees of Sun Peaks businesses. The restriction to Sun Peaks employees will be through a covenant in favour of the Municipality.  Future parcels of land are also designated for municipal of housing authority employees housing projects as the community grows. In addition, we are communicating with existing businesses to make sure that they clearly understand that it is their best interests to seek housing for their season employees but either purchasing employee housing or leasing housing that they manage for their employees.  Non-market housing restricted to employees in the community with COLA increases on capital costs and managed by the Housing Authority must be established for the year-round families who wish to make your community home.  This will provide long term affordable housing for year-round staff, easier said than done but this is our challenge.

Will add to the response when received from other municipalities (however City has a response below on our regulations)

In January 2022, Revelstoke adopted changes to the Zoning Bylaw that allow for a carriage or garden suite on all properties that have a single-detached dwelling to support further infill. While this is important for pursuing “gentle densification” it is only one tool to support solutions to the housing crisis. 

Yes, as part of the Official Community Plan one of the reports completed was an Age Friendly Report. Encouraging an increase in the supply of smaller dwelling units (condos, row houses etc.) where maintenance is addressed through a strata for things like lawn care and snow removal will be important to ensure that there are housing options for an aging population. 

Will add to the response when received from other municipalities.

Whistler Housing Authority

Within Whistler, the charge to contribute for employee housing is $5,908.00 per employee. Employees are determined on the following basis:

• Commercial – 1 employee per 50 sq. m of gross floor area
• Industrial – 1 employee per 250 sq. m of gross floor area
• Residential (where subject to rental pool covenant) – 0.2 employees per guest room
• Any other development – 1 employee per 50 sq. m of gross floor area

Resort Municipality of Sun Peaks

Sun Peaks is unique in that the lift company has a Master Development Agreement with the Province and is the only one with access to develop vacant Crown lands which is linked to developing recreation infrastructure (new ski lifts). There are provisions for allocations of future land for employee housing as the community grows. We have not yet implemented specific cash in lieu or unit requirements for development. A specific housing Development Cost Charge will be brought in this spring to establish a source of dedicated funding for our Housing Authority. 

This is a challenging question. While the Official Community Plan (OCP) has population projects that were used to identify housing needs and inform the overall development strategy to meet this need, careful evaluation of future trends is needed to ensure that Revelstoke is adapting. Constant evaluation of local trends will be important to ensuring that the overall goals of the OCP with respect to housing are being met. The OCP has a separate Implementation Plan and as per that plan, staff will bring forward an annual report (starting this fall) that will serve as a status update to determine if the objectives of the OCP are being met. 

This is a great out of the box idea, but to date this has not been considered. As part of the comprehensive land inventory that is currently underway, consideration for existing City lots to review future development potential while ensuring parking is maintained is being considered.  

Volunteers in the community, Council, and City staff have been hard at work to produce meaningful results to help the community achieve its collective vision with respect to housing. This is a challenging issue that can be complicated and requires coordination between all levels of government to produce meaningful results. Some action that has been completed of late with respect to housing:

• Working with Revelstoke Community Housing Society (RCHS), BC Housing, CPR, RMR and other developers to get projects in the ground. CPR built 48 employee housing units, RMR is currently in the process of constructing two of three employee housing buildings, each containing 92 dwelling units (and in addition to these two buildings, modulars for construction staff containing 64 dwelling units).RCHS received occupancy in 2022 for a 24 unit apartment complex. Development Permit approval of Phase 1 BC housing was expedited and the City is awaiting submission of a building permit for expedited review. 
• In January 2022, substantial changes to the Zoning Bylaw were completed to allow for carriage and garden suites, secondary suites within duplexes and row houses, increases in baseline densities, expansion for bonus density, and reduced paring regulations for development that can achieve walkability (proximity to transit and key amenities). This is all in effort to allow for additional housing development. 
• In April 2022, amendments to City bylaws to regulate Short Term Rental were adopted with an overall goal of freeing up more long-term rental units in the community. Staff are currently enforcing the regulations through both proactive and reactive measures. 
• In July 2022, a new Official Community Plan was adopted that included over 1,100 hours of individual volunteer time (in addition to broader public engagement. This document has far reaching housing goals (75% of new development to be multi-unit development) and has a broad land use strategy that supports rezoning for multi-unit development (i.e. duplex, triplex, fourplex, small blocks of row houses) in all low density residential areas. 
• In August 2022, Revelstoke’s Housing Action Plan was adopted. The plan identifies three foundational actions and five priority strategies. Staff are already in the process of crafting policies and completing a comprehensive municipal land inventory to address two of the three foundational actions (An Affordable Housing Reserve Policy and Municipal Land Disposition Policy). These policies will outline how the City can contribute financially or through land disposition to non-market housing. 

The current DCC bylaw reduces DCCs by 50% for non-profit housing development. Staff will be initiating a DCC bylaw update, and with that update considerations for reducing costs for accessory dwelling units will be completed. 

This is something that is within the provincial jurisdiction. The City is supportive of this, but to date, the province has not extended this form of taxation to the City. Continued advocacy from the community is required.

Will provide response when received from other municipalities.

Resort Municipality of Sun Peaks

Sun Peaks is unique in that the lift company has a provincially approved Master Development Agreement as is the major developer with exclusively rights to lands for future development.  The lift company have been a willing partner in working to solve the Employee Housing challenges and are working with the Municipality to develop an Employee Housing project that will be open to employees of all businesses located in Sun Peaks.

Micro homes (or tiny homes) are already permitted in Revelstoke. These are just single-detached dwellings that must comply with BC Building code and / or CSA standards for a permanent dwelling. Micro homes (or tiny homes) on wheels are considered Recreational Vehicles under BC Building Code (something that the City cannot supersede) and are permitted in campgrounds. Any developer is permitted to apply for a rezoning to create a small lot residential zone to allow for the development of small single-detached residences. The City will be working to create a standard small lot residential zone as part of the Zoning Bylaw Comprehensive Re-Write project.  

The opportunities for amenity negotiations (i.e. impose affordable housing requirements through Housing Agreement Bylaws) are typically at rezoning stage (although sometimes this occurs at Development Permit / Building Permit through bonus density regulations). City staff and Council do push the limit to ensure that developers are providing these units at the most affordable cost based on pro-formas developed for projects. With increases in interest rates, increases in the price of land, inflation, labour costs, and escalating material costs, there have already been projects that have fallen through prior to final approval due to not being financially viable. While Revelstoke is a desirable community, it will always be a balance to ensure that new development contributes their fair share to addressing the housing crisis while ensuring that the municipality does not make the cost to develop so high that investment goes to other communities.