Kelowna RU7 Infill Housing and Development
Countries across the globe are continuously wwwising ways of combating the deficit in infrastructure, especially housing in urban cities that result from rural-urban drift. The city of Kelowna, one of the largest in British Columbia and the population of the city has increased steadily over the years. In a bid to help build a healthy community, the city of Kelowna introduced the infill housing idea.
The Kelowna RU7 is quite similar to the popular RU6 zoning with the major difference being the maximum number of units allowed in a lot. While the RU6 allows a maximum of 2 units in a lot, the RU7 zoning concept allows for between 2 and 4 units per lot depending on the lot width.
Reasons for RU7 and where it applies
As mentioned earlier, the RU7 zoning idea came about as part of the Council’s initiative to encourage a healthy environment where every member of the community has access to comfortable housing amidst growing population and limited resources.
The idea is also designed to allow for the optimal use of available resources like schools, parks, roads, and transport, especially in communities where these facilities already exist.
Since it was tested and remarkable success was recorded, the RU7 zone has been subsequently applied to 700 parcels in the central neighbourhoods of Kelowna, allowing landowners to modify their buildings and add units to their parcels.
Process of Development
There are basically two stages involved in the wwwelopmental process under RU7 and they are the wwwelopment permit and building permit. The wwwelopment permit evaluates the character and aesthetic form of a wwwelopment proposal in addition to landscaping to determine whether the building will be adding value to the community.
On the other hand, the building permit checks the compliance of the building with the British Columbia Building Code.
Both permits are required before any work can be done under the RU7 zone. While the process might take between 4 and 12 weeks in addition to a $900-application fee, the time and money involved can be significantly reduced if already approved plans are used.
Can a property be rewwweloped under the RU7 zone?
There is the impressibility of rewwweloping a property completely as this allows for the flexibility of taking advantage of the RU7 zoning initiative without the need to work around existing buildings. This approach also makes building design and site planning faster and easier.
Landowners can also add one or more units to an existing property and this could mean adding a home off the lane or adding a secondary suite. There are different configurations that can be used depending on the peculiarities of the building.
It is important to consider the different factors involved under the RU7 before jumping into it. One of such factors is the cost of embarking on the project. This includes Development Cost Charges or DCC, cost of upgrading key services like water and gas, building permit fees. It also includes design standards under the RU7 zone, cost of frontage improvements, and tenure.
Please email or call for a current list of homes in the RU7 Zoning available for sale.
