The City of Delta has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a consultant to assist in a pair of related initiatives, both aimed at streamlining development applications.
The first is a streamlining review for land development applications and to identify, evaluate and make recommendations on potential opportunities to speed things up.
The second RFP is to prepare a new development application procedures bylaw to replace the current bylaw.
According to the city’s request for bids, the review is to include current practices and comparisons with other municipalities.
The city is hoping by this spring to have recommendations “for concrete measures to streamline development application processes and reduce processing times while also considering risk management and protection of the public interest.”
The city also wants options to respond to the province’s recent legislative changes, including Bill 26, which became law in February 2022. Those changes were aimed at helping cities speed up their application processes to get more new housing built faster.
Over the past four years, the City of Delta has undertaken various development application streamlining initiatives, including the Mayor’s Task Force on Building Permits and Development Applications.
Delta staff also established a liaison committee with representatives from the Urban Development Institute, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association and the Homebuilders' Association of Vancouver. The committee meets approximately three times per year and provides an additional engagement forum between Delta staff and the broader development community.
The city last year received funding from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs through the Local Government Development Approvals Program to carry out process improvement projects and streamline the local development approvals process.
Recently, other changes introduced to streamline things in Delta include the creation of a new Economic Development Project Review Group and eliminating the requirement for public hearings for land applications that meet the Official Community Plan.
