Coach houses are booked for a first class consultation over the next four months as the District of West Vancouver nudges closer to giving clearance to the controversial housing option.
Council voted Monday to move ahead with a community consultation on detached secondary suites culminating in a public hearing scheduled for March, 2014.
Where a coach house can be located, both on its lot and in the neighbourhood, will be key questions during community consultation. Parking and the size of the suites will also be a crucial issues, according to a staff report.
Coun. Bill Soprovich provided the lone contrary vote.
The longtime councillor has previously objected to granting widespread approval to coach houses on the grounds that a myriad of logistical problems would ensue. Soprovich has also highlighted the importance of maintaining existing neighbourhoods, which tend to be characterized by single-family homes.
Neighbourhood character is difficult to define, according to West Vancouver's manager of community planning Stephen Mikicich.
"The notion of neighbourhood character is a tricky one in that it can be something quite nebulous and different for everyone," he said. "When we talk about neighbourhood character and the biggest threat, it's status quo development."
Approximately 59 per cent of the 868 West Vancouverites who responded to a questionnaire or a community survey supported coach houses.
Part of the challenge of instituting coach houses will be allowing neighbours within 50 metres to submit their opinions without making the development permit process too onerous for the homeowner, according to Mikicich.
A homeowner hoping to build a coach house would likely face a two-phase approval process. The first step would be determining whether a detached suite could be built on the lot, the second stage would include an examination of the proposed design.
"I think the jury is still out in the community," said Coun. Michael Lewis, discussing the plethora of unanswered questions, including just how many lots in the community may be eligible for a coach house.
"We've never really come to a resolution on this," Lewis said. "At this point we're looking at blanket implementation everywhere in the community."
Coun. Craig Cameron disagreed.
"We're not talking about blanket approval of coach houses throughout the district of West Vancouver, we're talking about giving people the opportunity to apply," he said.
Cameron suggested a one-year review of the program, giving council a chance to kill, expand or modify the program as needed.
Before coach houses can be allowed, West Vancouver would have to amend the official community plan to establish a coach house development permit area.
West Vancouver real estate agents, architects and ratepayer associations are all scheduled to be consulted over the coming months, according to Mikicich.
Digital materials including an online questionnaire are scheduled to be posted online before the end of the year.
