Valemount will need over 100 new housing units by 2030, report finds
By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
Valemount will need 119 housing units to accommodate population growth over the next five years, according to projections from Langley-based company MVH Urban Planning and Design. President of the company, Michael von Hausen, and Senior Planner Jonathan Schmidt presented their findings to Valemount Council in a special meeting on July 10th.
Under B.C. housing legislation, municipalities must adopt a Housing Needs Report every five years, which include projections for housing needs over the next five and 20 years. Additionally, municipalities must have an Official Community Plan (OCP) which includes housing planning policies. The Province is requiring that OCPs are updated by the end of 2025 to ensure five and 20-year housing needs are included in the plans.
According to von Hausen, Valemount has enough vacant land to build the required 119 new units in five years, as well as the estimated 324 units in 20 years.
“You’ve got more than enough land and capacity to fill the housing needs,” he said. “There’s no problem there. In fact, it’s an opportunity.”
He added that because Valemount’s vacant lots would be serviced by the Village’s water and sewage systems, building housing on that land would generate more tax revenue for the Village. However, the Village should make sure new housing addresses local demographics that currently struggle to find housing – seniors and seasonal workers, according to von Hausen.
According to Schmidt, Valemount could build 612 units on subdivided lots alone – that is, on lots which have room for more than one property, or which could include an additional dwelling unit for property owners to rent out.
“You have sufficient land and sufficient policies and regulations that would allow the construction of at least 300-plus homes in your community,” Schmidt said. “The Province requires that we update the OCP to ensure it enables that number of units.”
This means the Village could include maps highlighting vacant lots that could be developed into housing within the OCP, he added.
While Valemount may have plenty of land to spare, expanding the electricity grid to accommodate more housing units could be difficult, said Mayor Owen Torgerson.
“We have the infrastructure on the ground to support densification … but [not] without significant upgrades to our inflow of electricity,” Torgerson said. “I don’t think the Province and Ministry of Housing put power into their needs assessment for any municipality, and at $10,000 a pole, that’s significant for anybody looking to make a buck as a developer.”
Insufficient power was not a problem for municipalities building more housing until recently, von Hausen said. He suggested researching grant opportunities to cover the cost of building a new power station, if necessary.
“The challenge with this new legislation in B.C. is they haven’t included infrastructure considerations for the municipality – schools, support facilities, infrastructure like water,” von Hausen added. “Sure, we can talk about housing, but do we have the social and physical infrastructure to support that housing?”
Schmidt said the Village could include a note at the beginning of the OCP explaining that electrical capacity is a point of concern for Valemount, which may help the Village secure grants from the provincial or federal government to build more power infrastructure.
Council approved adding a note to the OCP and housing needs assessment regarding limits to electrical capacity. According to von Hausen, MVH will have a final draft of the OCP housing policies ready for review by early September, followed by a public information meeting in October.
