The Village of Pemberton is working on a comprehensive Housing Action Project to address the community’s critical challenges of housing choices and affordability.
“Pemberton residents have told us that housing choices and affordability continue to be one of the top three challenges in our community,” the Village says.
This initiative comes in response to a recent housing needs study that reveals the Village needs approximately 850 units over the next five years to meet demand. Additionally, provincial regulations now mandate that communities over 5,000 must allow up to four units on all single-family lots; Pemberton is projected to reach this population threshold within five years.
The Housing Action Project aims to develop a diverse range of housing options through a series of interconnected efforts.
Project Overview
The Village has secured federal and provincial funding to support four key housing initiatives:
- Housing Strategy: This will identify gaps in the current housing supply and determine the best approaches to meet the community’s priority housing needs.
- Pre-zoning Initiatives: These initiatives, which aim to reduce zoning barriers, will facilitate higher-density developments in the Downtown and Gateway areas, following community engagement through the Official Community Plan (OCP) process.
- Housing Incentives will encourage property owners to add new “missing middle” housing units, such as secondary suites and duplexes, or bring existing units up to code.
- Complete Communities: This will involve a spatial analysis of current housing patterns and their connections to infrastructure, transportation, and daily needs. Scenarios will be developed to create more complete neighbourhoods.
These initiatives will enable nearly 100 new housing units beyond the average development rate over the next three years. The Village has already received the first installment from the Housing Accelerator Fund, which could unlock over $2.7 million in grant funding.
This funding will be invested in housing, infrastructure, and other community services supporting housing. The Village has engaged WCS Engagement + Planning to lead the Housing Action Project.
A draft of the housing action project is expected this summer.