The mayor of Oak Bay, B.C., is challenging the provincial government's plan to appoint a special advisor to help the district meet its housing targets. Mayor Kevin Murdoch argues that other resources, such as funding for staff or development planning assistance, would be more effective.
The mayor of Oak Bay is firing back on the B.C. government’s plan to implement a special advisor to help the district meet its housing targets, saying there are other measures that would help more.
At the time, Kevin Murdoch, Oak Bay’s mayor, said the municipality would need support meeting those targets. In December 2024, Ravi Kahlon, B.C.’s housing minister, released an update on that first cohort of targets with the District of Oak Bay and District of West Vancouver the only two flagged as “red.”
“Given Oak Bay has implemented all provincially required policy changes, the development pipeline shows an increase in housing, and 40 units is the smallest shortfall of any of the initial 7 noncompliant members, a provincial advisor would not be as helpful as additional resources to support Oak Bay such as funding a staff position or assisting UVic with their development planning process,” Murdoch said in aMurdoch says the district has already addressed the four areas that Kahlon identified...
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