REQUEST FOR DIRECTION
DATE: October 16, 2019 Report No. DEV-19-093
TO: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Alex Tang, Planner and Bill Brown, Director of Development Services
SUBJECT:
Title
Esquimalt Housing Inventory
End
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Does Council require any additional housing inventory information?
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That the Committee of the Whole receive Staff Report No. DEV-19-093 for information and provide any additional direction to staff as the COTW considers advisable.
Body
BACKGROUND:
As part of the 2019 - 2023 Strategic Plan, Council requested that staff prepare a housing inventory. Staff has used the methodology of a classification of individual buildings to determine the number of dwelling units. Firstly, a buildings geodatabase was created with the 2013 LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data of the building rooflines; subsequently, it was updated with reference to the CRD orthorectified aerial imagery of 2017 and building plans that accommodate approved building permit applications. The buildings were individually classified with attributes including year, height, area, building type classification, and dwelling units. Hence, the housing inventory is a subset of the building inventory taking into account all buildings with residential uses. The classification of housing type was based on data retrieved from BC Assessment and the Township of Esquimalt’s building permit records.
This report attempts to include all residential dwelling units occupied to date. The newest multiple-family dwelling to be occupied and included in this data is the 30 unit strata apartment building at 826 Esquimalt Road (final inspection given on February 5, 2019), whereas the newest subdivision to accommodate single family dwellings and included is 99 & 101 Uganda Avenue (final inspection given on September 12, 2018). Note that a single family dwelling with a suite [Table 1] is being counted as two dwelling units. Furthermore, the housing inventory does not include institutional uses at the Salvation Army Sunset Lodge (109 units), and Island Community Mental Health’s McCauley Lodge (30 units). Some industrial buildings also include a residential suite and this data does not account for that. In addition, this housing inventory did not include dwelling units within lands owned by the federal government such as those located at Naden and Work Point. The housing inventory data is presented in Table 1.
Table 1 - Esquimalt Housing Inventory
|
TYPE |
BUILDINGS |
SUB TYPE |
NUMBER |
UNITS |
|
Single Family Dwelling |
2391 |
SFD w/o suites |
1778 |
1778 |
|
|
|
SFD w/ suite |
613 |
1226 |
|
SFD - Bed & Breakfast |
6 |
|
6 |
6 |
|
Duplex |
420 |
Duplex (strata) |
247 |
494 |
|
|
|
Duplex (non-strata) |
173 |
346 |
|
Triplex |
8 |
Triplex (strata) |
4 |
12 |
|
|
|
Triplex (non-strata) |
4 |
12 |
|
Row House |
136 |
Row house (strata) |
93 |
358 |
|
|
|
Row house (non-strata) |
43 |
183 |
|
Multiple Family - Conversion from SFD |
9 |
|
9 |
46 |
|
Multiple Family |
153 |
MF (strata) |
46 |
1269 |
|
|
|
MF (non-strata) |
107 |
2802 |
|
Seniors Independent & Assisted Living |
1 |
|
1 |
64 |
|
Total |
3124 |
|
3124 |
8596 |
The number of dwelling units derived from this data would likely be less than the actual number of dwelling units because of
• unauthorized secondary suites within single family dwellings;
• unauthorized tertiary suites (as single family dwellings are only permitted one secondary suite);
• unauthorized secondary suites within two family dwellings (as secondary suites are currently not permitted in two family dwellings);
• accessory buildings used as secondary suites; and
• unauthorized additional suites in multiple family dwellings.
ISSUES:
Housing is an important concern in Esquimalt. The housing inventory provides an important baseline to understand the Township’s housing dynamics.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. That the COTW receive Staff Report No. DEV-19-093 for information and provide any additional direction to staff as the COTW considers advisable.
2. That the COTW provides alternative direction to staff.
3. That the COTW requests further information from staff.