Whereas public lands are often required to support the delivery of publicly funded affordable and attainable rental housing; And whereas the process of securing or modifying lands controlled or previously granted by the Province to support publicly funded housing projects remains convoluted and extremely lengthy and has not been addressed in the recent provincial efforts to streamline provincial permitting for housing under PermitConnectBC: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the Province establish a streamlined pathway to expedite the public-owned land grants and related title-reverter process for public attainable and affordable housing applications while upholding and recognizing the commitments of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship The Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship WLRS is working to shorten permitting wait times and strives to respond to applications related to provincial priorities such as affordable housing as expeditiously as possible. Decisions related to the fee-simple transfer of land to municipal governments and the removal of reverter clauses for non-market housing need to be consistent with existing Core Financial Policies and accounting rules, assessed for public benefit, and meet consultation commitments. WLRS is working in conjunction with the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs to seek policy direction on options to support the use of Crown land to advance housing objectives. Municipalities are encouraged to work with their WLRS regional Lands Authorizations offices to elevate priority files and applications as well as with the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs to identify programs and partnerships.