Langley City is one of 11 municipalities partnering with the Metro Vancouver Regional District on its DASH - Digitally Accelerated Standardized Housing project, which is looking at ways to speed up housing construction in Metro Vancouver.
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| The DASH Program transformation. Selection the image to enlarge. |
The initiative has three primary areas of focus to speed up housing construction: rezoning processes, municipal regulations, and off-site (modular) construction.
The first area they prepared a report on was municipal regulations. They found that all 11 municipalities that are participating have slightly different regulations when it comes to zoning that would accommodate a simple six-storey apartment building. Standardizing these regulations would enable more straightforward off-site construction, reducing design complexity and cost while increasing speed.
The proposed zoning regulation changes are simple, for example, looking at standardized heights and setbacks.
The report also looks at standardized development permit regulations, which include pedestrian access, landscaping, exterior design, building cladding, and amenity areas.
As a region, we have worked together to streamline processes such as inter-municipal business licensing and region-wide ride-hail services licensing. I'm confident we can also standardize zoning to enable off-site, modular construction of wood-frame apartments. I look forward to seeing further recommendations from the DASH project and working toward implementing these recommendations region-wide.
Please read the April 3rd Metro Vancouver Regional Planning Committee agenda for more information.