Kelowna council revisited its micro suite policy on Monday (May 12), with councillors balancing concerns over lost development fees against the growing need for smaller, more affordable housing options.

Defined as apartments smaller than 29 square metres, micro suites are often lumped in with studio units, making them difficult to track separately. Since 2008, under B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 Bill 27, these ultra-compact units have been exempt from Development Cost Charges (DCCs), a move originally intended to reduce housing costs and environmental impacts of urban sprawl.

Councillor Mohini Singh questioned staff as to how much revenue is being lost through DCCs. 

乌鸦传媒淭hat's a very difficult question to answer,乌鸦传媒� noted Joel Shaw, manager, capital planning and asset management. 乌鸦传媒淎ll I can say for certain is that micro suites are low occupancy units. So yes, there's some lost opportunity in DCC revenue, but I don't see it being significant at this point.乌鸦传媒�

Coun. Gord Lovegrove pointed out that DCCs for micro suites could be similar to that of a carriage home which is $22,000. Following that line, Coun. Ron Cannan asked if the shortfall in DCC funding is having to be made up elsewhere. 

乌鸦传媒淚 think the estimates and our DCC program are reasonably conservative right now,乌鸦传媒� Shaw replied. 乌鸦传媒淲e are developing more units than we forecast. I don't think our infrastructure program would change materially if we had this additional revenue. I think we're okay.乌鸦传媒�

Micro suites are permitted in the five urban centres, and the University South Village Centre (USVC).

According to staff, seven per cent (585 units) of open development permit applications for apartment units are micro suites. However, one application in the USVCentre is 93 per cent micro suites, which skews the average. When removing this application, micro suites account for only 2 per cent (144 units) remaining in-stream apartment units across the city.

The discussion also highlighted how important micro suites are becoming in Kelowna乌鸦传媒檚 housing mix. Staff pointed out that 31 per cent of new households in the coming years are expected to be one-person homes, many of them in need of affordable options.

Several councillors voiced support for the city乌鸦传媒檚 approach so far. Coun. Luke Stack said the report reassured him that the strategies the city has been following are working.

乌鸦传媒淪o overall, I like the report, and I think it just shows in my opinion, that the city乌鸦传媒檚 got a really good balanced approach to this at the moment.乌鸦传媒�

Coun. Loyal Wooldridge agreed.

乌鸦传媒淪o when I look at where both micro suites and studios are being placed throughout the city and urban centres, et cetera, I think we're striking that correct balance in terms of where employment is, where transportation is, or where education is.乌鸦传媒�

City staff acknowledged that tracking micro suites has been inconsistent, but promised better data collection moving forward.