Surrey has approved changes that exempt apartment buildings up to six stories and commercial/office buildings up to three stories from requiring Advisory Design Panel (ADP) review, provided they are supported by staff.
These changes, combined with an earlier exemption of townhouse and industrial projects from urban design review, are estimated to reduce the number of projects at the ADP by 60-70 per cent and save several months on development application timelines.
Surrey is also exploring whether building permits for new homes could be submitted for review after the preliminary layout approval process and prior to final subdivision in order to reduce the time for building permit issuance.
“With the housing crisis in mind, this council is taking steps to speed up our development application timelines,” said Mayor Brenda Locke. “I thank our dedicated staff for working quickly to find solutions that will help significantly reduce processing times, while not compromising urban design outcomes. These changes will result in homes being built faster, and in turn, better meet our growing community’s vital need for new housing.”
The approved changes will:
- exempt low-rise (up to six storey) apartment buildings and low-rise (up to three storey) commercial retail and office buildings from ADP review, provided they are supported through urban design staff review;
- allow an option for high-rise (more than six storey) residential and mixed-use developments and larger (more than three storeys) commercial and select major projects to be scheduled for ADP review either prior to introduction to council, or following third reading and/or council’s “approval to draft” a Development Permit but before final approval at the applicant’s discretion, provided they are supported through urban design staff review; and
- refer projects to an ADP review prior to introduction to council if the design is not supported through urban design staff review. In such cases, the ADP will function as a “second opinion” and will form part of staff’s recommendations to council.
