Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Price says he’s proud of how many housing developments received approval through 2024, but he is disappointed at the lack of actual construction.
“We did a number of development approvals that I really thought would kick-start our housing development and aid our housing crisis a little bit,” said Price.
“I think we have several high-density residential developments that we approved in the last year or two. I think that was significant through 2024.”
However, those approvals do not always translate into construction starts, which Price says has been a major challenge for the city.
“We looked at high-density and affordable housing developments, but the lack of actual starts is disappointing,” said Price.
“Council made these big projects a priority and we approved them and we’re sitting here without those starts. That’s quite frustrating because there’s a lot of pressure on council to approve those.”
Price says housing proposals take up space in the city’s operation capacity, which can put further pressure on the municipality.
“The bigger the project, the more staff time is needed. We had a number of those big projects, which took time and effort from staff, but nothing materialized,” said Price.
“Those also equate to longer wait times for people who are actually serious and intent to build. We have limited staff and if these big projects take priority and they don’t materialize, it’s frustrating.”
Price says the city hopes to change things in 2025 to get more construction off the ground.
“With interest rates coming down, I hope it will be enough to get some of these developments moving. It’s going to make a significant difference if three of four of these get off the ground,” said Price.
“We’re looking at a development incentive bylaw. If a development, whether it aligns with our OCP or development policy, we’ll give them some kind of incentive. That may be a year of free taxes and a year or two at 50 per cent, we’ll consider reduced parking requirements which will give them more doors they can add on. Things like that will give them a little bit more incentive, which I think will go a long way with the way interest rates are going down.”
Be the first to know! Don’t miss out on breaking news and daily updates in your area. Sign up to MyEastKootenayNow News Alerts.
