324 Chester Road Rezoning

During the June 18th Council meeting, staff presented a zoning amendment proposal for a property in Qualicum Woods. The Qualicum Woods neighbourhood was built in the early 80's and many of the homes are now nearing end of life and we should expect to see the area redevelop in the nearer term. The large property in question is 19,858 square feet and is currently zoned R1. R1 zoning permits 4 dwelling units but only 2 legal strata titles . This results in no more than 2 owners for the 4 permitted dwelling units.

The owner of the property wanted to build 4 side by side townhouses and have each unit registered as a separate strata unit. Still 4 dwelling units, just 4 individual strata titles.

Although recommended by town staff and the Advisory Planning Commission, Council chose to deny the rezoning request. The rationale for declining the request was protecting neighbourhood character and the original goal of the R1 zoning bylaw was to encourage at least one new rental unit for each new home built in the R1 Zone. Council questioned the staff's report that limiting the # of titles to 2 may affect the projects economics, siting several other town proposals where 2 titles were sufficient. The owner of the property has indicated that if the rezoning to permit 4 separate titles is not approved he would likely build two smaller homes with no suites. As councilor Harrison rightly pointed out that means two homes rather than the 4 proposed.

The discussion is not about what is being built but rather about the ownership structure.  The density remains the same at 4 dwelling units per property. If the owner wanted and had the financial capacity he could build the exact same 4 unit townhouse project using only one or two titles. However, it is this owners intention to retain one of the units for himself and sell the remaining three units to other buyers.. Personally, I fail to understand how ownership structure in this situation effects "protection of a neighbourhood character". This type of attainable market housing is exactly what young families are looking for and unable to find in Qualicum Beach.

By permitting 4 dwelling units but limiting the titles to 2, the town is also undermining the provinces approach under the BC Speculation and Vacancy Tax program. This program aims to get vacant homes into the long term rental market. Council could have approved the rezoning with 4 titles in which case the the Chester Rd property would fall under this program ensuring the 4 units are indeed occupied. Whereas R1 zoning with two large homes with potentially unoccupied secondary units are not captured under the program and allows any secondary suites to remain vacant without penalty.

In this same meeting the town approved acceptance of a bid in the amount of approximately $54,000 to hire a consultant to examine "Ways to Achieve Attainable Market Housing". The project is not focused on subsidized housing options but rather on attainable market housing. In the Chester property rezoning request we have an example of the town council's apparent inflexibility to make a minor ownership amendment to achieve attainable market housing. While only 4 units, this was a missed opportunity. It makes this writer wonder why the town is spending tax payer money to explore the options if council intends to continue supporting only large single family homes with secondary /garden suites in the majority of the town which is zoned R1. With this approach, in my opinion, council will face even more pressure to approve much higher density/taller apartment building style projects, and yet more tax payer funded subsidized housing in order to achieve the provincially imposed housing targets.

Marie Noel

June 19 2025

Your feedback and comments are welcome.

Your can email us at QualicumBeachinsights@gmail.com

More info

June 18 2025 Council meeting agenda package

(see pages 131- 189 Town staff recommendation)

Watch this meeting on YouTube here (timepoint 1:44 for the Chester Rd Property)