FAQs

The proposed project is for stratified multi-family market housing.  This application proposes to build 57 stratified units of housing as follows: 13 semi-detached buildings (26 units), one triplex, and seven quadplexes (28 units). These housing types are often referred to as the “missing middle”. The City of Vernon’s Housing Action Plan aims to address the “missing middle” in housing and support medium density units designed for the needs and budgets of average income households.

The proponent is seeking an Official Community Plan designation of Residential Low Density, which allows a maximum of 30 units per gross hectare. Given that the proposed project is close to this maximum, seeks R5 zoning and involves stratified multi-family housing, the City considers this to be a medium density development.

The City’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan is the guiding document for managing fire risk and wildfire protection in the community. The Plan identifies this parcel as within the Wildfire Interface Area 2. Development proposals in this area should be designed to comply with FireSmart BC guidelines for construction materials, building practices and landscaping. A Wildfire Interface Management and Mitigation Plan from a qualified professional will be required as part of the Development Permit process.

There is currently no BC Transit service route to the Foothills Neighbourhood Plan area. However, the need for this route has been identified in the North Okanagan Transit Future Plan. Increasing the number of housing units in the area is expected to accelerate the timeline to bring transit service.

The Climate Action Plan commits the City of Vernon to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. In its Land Use and Transportation section, the Plan envisions that “Vernon is made of compact, complete, climate-ready neighbourhoods connected to low carbon transportation networks”. The City recognizes that our community needs more housing. The City also recognizes that buildings and transportation are among the leading causes of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).  The future of our built environment involves doing more with less: building smaller living spaces and adding density to established neighborhoods. This development is connected to Vernon’s new Silver Star Road multi-use path that provides an active transportation route between the Foothills and Pleasant Valley Road, with connections to downtown. At the Building Permit stage, any new housing units will be required to meet Step 3 of BC’s Energy Step Code, which means that they must be 20% more efficient than the minimum requirements for energy efficiency in the BC Building Code.

This property was annexed into the City of Vernon as an individual parcel on May 23, 2014. The annexation application was processed and approved with the existing RDNO OCP designation ‘CR NORD – Country Residential’ and RDNO zone ‘CR NORD – Country Residential’ remaining on title.

The City of Vernon no longer accepts individual annexation applications. These are also referred to as Boundary Extension applications. Annexation is regulated under Section 24 of our Official Community Plan (Bylaw 5470), adopted November 10, 2014, outlines the policy on annexation. In summary, all of the following conditions must be in place for City administration to support an application: 

• There is a block of properties collectively applying for joint annexation
• All properties in the block are contiguous and share a property line 
• The block is contiguous with the City boundary line
• There is a demonstrated need to connect to City sanitary sewer services
• The block is immediately adjacent to City infrastructure
• The RDNO supports the application for annexation to the City of Vernon.

Applications for Boundary Extension (Annexation) are available from the City of Vernon’s Permits and Applications web page: https://www.vernon.ca/homes-building/permits-applications. Applications are reviewed annually by the Planning Department and taken to Council for decision.

The City’s Good Neighbour Bylaw #4980 sets out the framework in which construction can be carried out within the city to minimize the impact on the surrounding neighbourhood. Neighbouring properties are not eligible for compensation from rezoning decisions, which is regulated under Section 458 of BC’s Local Government Act.