View Royal Mayor Sid Tobias is proposing a pause on all new developments for six months — just as the town lands on the province’s list of 47 communities that have to do more to increase housing.
“It’s not that we’re against development,” said Tobias. “We just want to make sure it’s the right development for the community.” The province’s so-called “naughty list” includes municipalities with the greatest projected growth and highest need that have the area and means to provide new housing but have been slow to approve new units.
Tobias said there is plenty of building underway in View Royal, mostly around Victoria General Hospital and West Burnside Road. There are seven major developments— three under construction and four with development permits — that include 293 strata units and 588 rental apartments, according to the town’s latest housing supply update on May 3.
He said the latest seven developments represent an 18% increase in View Royal’s population over the next two years, based on 2,072 people living in those new units. “That’s not including [other] recent buildings and single family [homes],” he said.