A council member motion to reconsider sending the Missing Middle Housing motion back for further consultation resulted in council voting to send the motion to the next step.
At the May 26 council meeting, councillors voted 5-4 to send the Missing Middle Housing motion for further consultation including a public engagement session to encorporate feedback into the motion.
Councillor Stephen Andrew, who voted in favour of sending the motion for further consultation, put forward a motion to reconsider the postponement.
“When I voted in favour of the referral, it was clear from my public comments that I was concerned about the amount of time between a proposed and the public meeting,” Andrew said regarding his reasons for bringing the motion back for a vote. “At the time my perception was there was a tremendous amount of confusion about what the missing middle initiative was and what it isn’t.”
The motion to reconsider passed 4-3 with Mayor Lisa Helps, and Councillors Andrew, Marianne Alto, and Sarah Potts voting in favour with two councillors absent from the meeting.
As a result of that, council then discussed the motion to send the Missing Middle Housing initiative to a public hearing following an information session.
Council voted to allocate up to $25,000 from the contingency fund to send mailers to every resident in Victoria to inform people of the information session, which is scheduled for July 12.
Following the information session, council is scheduled to give first and second reading of the bylaw on July 14, then if it passes, the public hearing is planned to be held on August 4.
The vote in favour of this plan was a 6-1 with only Coun. Ben Isitt voting against.
The Missing Middle Housing plan would rezone single-family homes to allow houseplexes, corner townhouses, heritage-conserving infill and accessory uses. It’s a move city staff say will help diversify housing choices as single-family residences become increasingly unattainable for young and first-time home buyers.
Laura Brougham
