SURREY, B.C. — Surrey City Council has approved significant procedural changes aimed at streamlining development processes in the city.
According to a release, apartment buildings up to six storeys and commercial/office buildings up to three storeys will now be exempt from Advisory Design Panel (ADP) review if they have staff support.
This amendment is expected to cut the number of projects needing ADP review by 60 to 70 per cent, potentially saving several months in development application timelines.
Further decisions include a directive for staff to explore the possibility of submitting building permits for new homes post-preliminary layout approval but before final subdivision, an effort to shorten the time for building permit issuance.
Mayor Brenda Locke highlighted the council’s intention to accelerate development application timelines in light of the housing crisis, emphasizing these changes aim to facilitate quicker home construction without compromising urban design quality.
The changes will allow for a more expedited process for low-rise residential and commercial buildings through urban design staff reviews, offering highrise and larger commercial projects the option for ADP review at various stages, depending on support from urban design staff, the release reads.
Projects not endorsed by staff will be referred to the ADP as a “second opinion” mechanism. Previously, a wider range of projects, including all highrise and low-rise apartments, mixed-use developments and commercial and industrial developments, were mandatorily referred to the ADP.
These changes are also complemented by improvements in engineering development processes, such as earlier staff involvement, accelerated review timelines, integrated erosion and sediment control processes, and expanded use of surety bonds to reduce developers’ carrying costs, the city states.
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed