Delta council last week gave final approval for an application to rezone a property in the 11000-block of River Road to allow a subdivision into five bare land strata single-detached residential lots with in-ground basements and secondary suites.
The province now requires municipalities across B.C. to amend their zoning bylaws to permit small-scale multi-unit housing on all single-detached residential lots, and the City of Delta has amended its zoning bylaw to meet those requirements.
That means it is now possible that the owners of the River Road site could consider up to four units on each of the proposed lots without council's further consideration.
Council also approved a rezoning that will see the subdivision of a property in the 11800-block of 87th Avenue to allow subdivision into two single-detached residential lots, but up to four units on each of the new lots can be built without council's further consideration.
Meanwhile, a growing number of properties, particularly in North Delta, are being listed for sale as developer and investor alerts, having the potential for subdivision and increased density with the city's new zoning as well as new Official Community Plan (OCP).
Several are also listed as potential land assemblies, including, for example, an almost 10,000-square-foot property, which currently has an older 1,050-square-foot house, in the 10800-block of 84th Avenue.
Listed for $1,999,999, the property is described as zoned for three-storey ground-oriented residential, suitable for townhouses, row houses and duplexes. The listing also notes adjacent properties on 84th Avenue and Brooke Road are also on the market, providing a combined area of 27,532-square-feet for a land assembly.
Among the other listings is a property in the 11800-block of 86A Avenue, which currently has a 2,666-square-foot house, listed for $2.6 million, but must be sold with four other adjacent properties in a land assembly that would result in almost 30,000-square-feet of development area.
Also noting the existing house generates almost $3,000 in rent, the listing, states the property is located within 800 metres of a Transit-Oriented Area that allows up to six storeys in the new OCP. It also notes "preliminary drawings suggest the potential for around 110 units."
A recent Delta staff report on the provincial housing target for the city notes Delta has surpassed the first required target by achieving 561 net new housing units between Oct. 1, 2023 and Sept. 30, 2024.
Over the reporting period, 207 housing units were withdrawn by the applicant from the development approvals process, but 165 units of those units were from a single project, which changed ownership.
The new owner is preparing an application that would provide 265 new housing units, the report notes, adding the remaining units were single-detached, duplex dwellings or secondary suites.
Several owners cited construction costs when cancelling their applications, while some noted they are considering the implications of the provincial small-scale multi-unit housing legislation.
No projects were denied approval over the period.
