Postponed Housing

Climate-ready design guidelines for new buildings

$75,000 to review the Town's design rules so new buildings save energy and cope with a changing climate. Pushed back in 2023, then from 2028 to 2029 by Eaglecrest.

Amount
$75,000
Got
$0
Where it stands
To 2029. Moved by the Eaglecrest funding plan, Jul 2025.

What it is

The Town has form and character guidelines. These are design rules for how some new buildings look and fit in. This $75,000 project would review them and possibly add new rules that deal with climate change.

Ideas in the Town's 2023 planning sheet include placing and shaping buildings to use sunlight and shade to save energy, roofs and materials that suit the local climate, long-lasting materials, and landscaping that can handle a changing climate.

The Town's name for it is Review Form and Character Guidelines to Advance Climate Adaptation and Mitigation. Adaptation means coping with climate change. Mitigation means reducing the pollution that causes it. The money would pay a consultant. Staff estimated 150 staff hours.

What happened

  1. November 10, 2023Scoped at strategic planning (SI-11-24). Staff first proposed 2027 because the reserve was tight, then recommended 2028 or later because of the Province's November 2023 housing announcement. The Committee added a note that the Town will consider starting earlier as opportunities arise.
  2. 2025The 2025–2029 Financial Plan shows $75,000 in 2028.
  3. July 23, 2025Council moved it from 2028 to 2029 as part of the Eaglecrest funding plan (Resolution 25-180, carried 4–1, Councillor Harrison opposed).
  4. April 1, 2026The adopted 2026–2030 Financial Plan shows $75,000 in 2029.

Why it matters

  • This item has been pushed back twice. The first delay, in 2023, was because of provincial housing legislation. Only the second, in July 2025, was part of the Eaglecrest funding plan.
  • Staff wrote in 2023 that this work was not in the work plan but could be done with a bigger consulting budget.
  • Staff also said the Official Community Plan review was expected to look at environmental development permit areas, which are separate rules for sensitive land.
  • The same July 2025 decision also moved two other climate items: a Climate Mitigation Actions Matrix ($25,000) and a program on fossil-fuel-free power equipment ($10,000), each from 2027 to 2028.
  • The 2026–2030 Financial Plan says Council's ability to go ahead with 2027 and later initiatives depends on paying back the Strategic Initiatives Reserve, expected in 2027 and 2028, and that Council will set priorities at its 2027 strategic planning.

Sources

Last checked September 18, 2026. Report a mistake.