TOWNSHIP OF ESQUIMALT STAFF REPORT
MEETING DATE: July 20, 2026 Report No. DEV-26-036
TO: Council
FROM: Bill Brown, Director of Development Services
SUBJECT: Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing Workshop Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That Council direct staff to begin preparations to establish a select Committee following the October 2026 municipal election, to work through the technical, legal and financial details behind targeted bylaw amendments; and that the newly struck Committee establish reporting deadlines where preliminary advice would be delivered no sooner than March 31, 2027, and final recommendations delivered no sooner than June 30, 2027. And further that Council use the Draft Terms of Reference in Appendix “G” of the Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) Community Engagement Final Report July 2026 attached as Appendix “A” of staff report DEV-26-036 as a guide to establish the committee.
Body
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Pursuant to Council direction at their April 27, 2026, meeting, staff engaged a consultant to undertake a series of community engagement activities to better understand the concerns and aspirations of community members related to Small-Scale Multi-Unit Development. The methodologies used and the results of the various engagement actives are detailed in the attached report that prepared by the consultant and attached as Appendix “A” to this report. The report makes three recommendations, namely:
1) Recommendation 1 directs Administration to use whatever discretion it already lawfully holds under the current Zoning Bylaw, Development Permit Area guidelines, delegated authority or provincial legislation, to weigh site-specific context immediately, rather than waiting for future amendments before responding to what residents have raised.
2) Recommendation 2 establishes a select Committee to work through the technical, legal and financial details behind targeted bylaw changes, reporting preliminary advice before March 31, 2027, and final recommendations by June 30, 2027.
3) Recommendation 3 commits the Township to proactively notifying residents of new SSMUH applications, so neighbours learn about development on their street from the Township, not after the fact.
Recommendation 1 is administrative in nature and will be implemented immediately. Recommendation 2 requires the approval of Council and deadline expectations that are not achievable given the delays related to the upcoming election. Recommendation 3 is in the process of being implemented. Staff proposed to use the Esquimalt Alert system to notify neighbours when a new development permit for a SSMUH project is added to the development tracker. Implementation is expected in the next couple of months. This will require that residents download the app or register online to allow them to receive alerts and notifications from the Esquimalt Alert System. More details on the Esquimalt Alert System are available on the Township’s website at https://www.esquimalt.ca/municipal-services/esquimalt-alert.
BACKGROUND:
In June 2024, Council adopted amendments to the Zoning Bylaw to allow for Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing as per the statutory requirement imposed by the provincial government. Staff recommended closely following the provincial guidelines. Since the amendments the Township has received approximately 20 SSMUH applications. Some of the approved applications are currently under construction (one is finished). This has allowed citizens to physically see the manifestation of the Zoning Bylaw’s regulations around Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing. A number of residents, particularly those adjacent or close to some of these developments, have expressed concern over the scale, massing, and design of them. In response, Council has asked staff to review the regulations related to Small Scale Multi-Unit Housing. As part of the review, Council instructed staff to engage various stakeholders. To this end, staff hired Neuquinn Consulting to design and conduct an engagement process. The details of this process and the results and recommendations are found in the consultant’s report attached as Appendix “A”. As noted above, the report contains three recommendations - two of those recommendations; namely that staff use as much discretion as possible to address the concerns raised through the engagement process and that staff implement a notification system so that neighbours are aware when the Township receives a Small Scale Multi-Unit Housing development permit application, are already being implemented. The second, recommendation, namely that Council establish a steering committee to research the issues and report back to Council with recommendations requires Council authorization. The proposed reporting timelines for the committee are in 2027 because a steering committee needs to include at least one member of Council and with the election in October, this could be problematic if the committee is established before the election. Far more detail, including a draft Terms of Reference is available in the consultant’s report.
Chronology:
April 20, 2026: Staff present a report to the Committee of the Whole that described options to achieve Council’s desire to explore further amendments to the SSMUH zoning and regulations (see staff report DEV-26-013).
April 27, 2026: Council ratifies a motion from the Committee of the Whole to “direct staff to consider more extensive amendments to the Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing related bylaw, prior to bringing forward amendments and staff be directed to undertake targeted consultation with relevant advisory bodies, including the Advisory Planning Commission, and Design Review Committee, as well as small-scale developers, and to include a focused opportunity for public input, along with clear visual examples illustrating how the combined regulations function in practice, to support Council decision-making and public understanding.”
May 11, 2026: Staff present a report to the Committee of the Whole recommending that Council direct staff to proceed with a Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing workshop (see staff report DEV-26-019.
May 25, 2026 Council ratifies the recommendation of the Committee of the Whole to “direct staff to proceed with the hiring the necessary consultants and organizing a SSMUH workshop as outlined in this report and bring back a summary of input and recommended bylaw/policy updates for Council consideration no later than July 2026, and the comments made at the workshop be made available to the public at an open house and online.
June 29, 2026 Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing workshop held at the Gorge Pavilion.
ANALYSIS:
As noted above, two of the recommendations of the consultant’s report are currently being implemented. The first recommendation, namely that staff use discretion where possible is currently being implemented, however, does not address some of the major concerns expressed by workshop participants such as height, setbacks, and site coverage as these are regulated by the Zoning Bylaw and there are no statutory mechanisms to exercise discretion. Where there is some discretion is in the implementation of the design guidelines which deal with issues such as form and character and protection of the environment. Even in this situation, however, the applicant needs to be informed of what is required to become compliant with the design guidelines to have their development permit approved. The design guidelines cannot be used to reject a development permit application that otherwise conforms to all Zoning Bylaw requirements.
The second recommendation in the consultant’s report, namely create a steering committee to provide recommendations to Council regarding proposed amendments to the Zoning Bylaw, is somewhat more complicated to implement, particularly because of the October municipal election. Steering committees must include at least one member of Council. As such, it is logistically not possible to develop the terms of reference for the committee (a draft terms of reference is attached as Appendix G to the consultant’s report), appoint the committee, and have the committee complete its work before the October 17, 2026, municipal election. In addition, Corporate Services staff who would be involved in the administration of the committee are committee to election preparations and delivery, and therefore are not able to do the required foundational work for a steering committee. For this reason, it is recommended that Council approve the recommendation in principle, however, leave it up to the next Council to implement the recommendation, particularly with respect to timelines for delivery of results and recommendations.
The third recommendation in the report, namely, developing a method to notify neighbours when a development permit application for a Small-Scale Multi-Unit development is received, is also currently being implemented. This mechanism will require residents to subscribe to Esquimalt Alert. Staff will create a communications plan that announces the program along with providing instructions about how to subscribe to Esquimalt Alert. This plan is expected to be fully implemented by early August.
OPTIONS:
1. That Council direct staff to begin preparations to establish a select Committee following the October 2026 municipal election, to work through the technical, legal and financial details behind targeted bylaw amendments; and that the newly struck Committee establish reporting deadlines where preliminary advice would be delivered no sooner than March 31, 2027, and final recommendations delivered no sooner than June 30, 2027. And further that Council use the Draft Terms of Reference in Appendix “G” of the Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) Community Engagement Final Report July 2026 attached as Appendix “A” of staff report DEV-26-036 as a guide to establish the committee
2. That Council provides alternative directions to staff.
COUNCIL PRIORITY:
Housing
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The proposed budget for the engagement process was between $25,000 and $30,000. The funds were reallocated from existing operating funds, specifically, the unused salary and benefits for the Planning Technician position that was vacant from January 1, 2026, to May 1. 2026
COMMUNICATIONS/ENGAGEMENT:
Extensive communication was undertaken. Details are found in the consultant’s report attached as Appendix “A”.
TIMELINES & NEXT STEPS:
Two of the three recommendations in the report are currently being implemented. The third recommendation, namely, to establish a steering committee to provide detailed recommendations to Council, would be established by the new Council following the October 17, 2026 municipal election and provide a preliminary report by March 31, 2027 and a final report by June 30, 2027.
REPORT REVIEWED BY:
1) Deb Hopkins, Director of Corporate Services, Reviewed
2) Kristi Bilodeau, Acting Director of Finance, Reviewed
3) Dan Horan, Chief Administrative Officer, Concurrence
LIST OF ATTACHMENTS:
1. Appendix “A” Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) Community Engagement Final Report July 2026
2. Consultant’s Presentation.