The District of North Vancouver is hosting a public hearing for an updated coach house programme next week.
The public hearing will be held on November 19 at 7 pm at the council chambers at 355 West Queens Road.
Citizens will get a chance to express their views on a revised coach house programme. The aim of the programme is to increase the uptake of coach houses while integrating new coach house development with the surrounding neighbourhood.
The revised programme also seeks to expand the diversity of housing options and the number of rental units in the District, as envisioned in the OCP.
DNV wants to simplify the coach house approval process. Under the existing policy, building a coach house requires development variance permit with council decision.
The new process would require just a building permit to build a one-storey coach house on a lot that is at least 49.2 feet wide and has either an open lane access or is situated on a corner on a local street.
Those wanting to build a two-storey coach house will, however, have to apply for a development variance permit. Applications for two-storey coach houses will be considered on a case-by-case basis on lots greater than 10,000 square feet with no lane access or on double-front lots at least 15 metre wide. Corner lots on collector or arterial streets can also be considered.
To date, council has approved 17 coach houses, an average of approximately four per year since it started the coach house programme in November 2014. While the development variance permit process allows council oversight, it makes the process that much slower.
DNV is expected to receive 5 to 25 applications per year, but that hasn’t happened. By simplifying the permit process, DNV hopes to create more housing diversity by encouraging more people to apply.
“Coach houses provide opportunities for greater housing diversity, enable residents to age in place on their property or in their neighbourhood, or provide housing for family members. Coach houses have the potential to enable young families or young adults to live in single-family neighbourhoods in a detached dwelling that might otherwise be unaffordable,” DNV says.
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