Mayor Dean Murdock of the District of Saanich discusses a wide variety of issues, including 'road diets,' Saanich's move towards expanding cold weather emergency shelter spaces, development approvals processes and more. Citified.ca
Q&A: Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock hints at new ice rink, faster housing approvals, speaks to shelter services, and much more
Ten on the 10th
Published January 13, 2025
Citified's Ten on the 10th is a monthly question-and-answer segment connecting our readers with the insight and knowledge of Victoria's top real-estate and business professionals.
Ten on the Tenth's January, 2025 segment features Dean Murdock, mayor of Greater Victoria's most populous municipality, the District of Saanich.
Asking the questions is Ross Marshall, Senior Vice President of the Victoria offices of commercial real-estate brokerage CBRE. As a leader in facilitating large-scale commercial real-estate transactions throughout the Capital Region – which include apartment complexes, industrial retail and office properties, and land/development opportunities – Ross and his team are at the forefront of market-leading real-estate transactions on Vancouver Island.
Would you like to be featured as part of a future Ten on the 10th Q&A? We'd like to hear from you.
Prior to becoming involved in municipal politics, who was Dean Murdock, and what led you to seek office?
I’ve always been interested in the ways we build community and view politics as a way to bring people together to solve problems and make life better for people. I was elected to my first term on Saanich Council in 2008 when I was 27 years old. I served ten years as a Councillor, while I was working for the provincial government in various ministries. I also worked as an instructor of political science at Camosun College and hosted a podcast about community building called Amazing Places.
I was elected Mayor in 2022 after taking a term away from politics. Stepping away from elected life gave me a chance to take a step back and think about how we confront the challenges we’re facing – particularly the affordability and climate crises. I love this community and felt motivated to get back into politics to ensure Saanich has a future that includes homes our children can afford and a healthy climate and natural environment for them to enjoy.
Serving in the role as Mayor is the honour of my life. I love doing the job and working with my council colleagues, Saanich staff and community members to bring forward solutions that address these major challenges and improve the quality of life for everyone in Saanich.
With respect to the Saanich public works yard redevelopment on Quadra Street, could you speak to what the plan is, as far as attracting a developer partner to complete the build-out of the mixed-use component and the publics works yard, while Saanich retains the ownership of the land?
The District intends to redevelop the Saanich Operations Centre at an estimated cost of $172 million.
Saanich is working with external consultants to secure private sector interest and investment in the redevelopment project. Our aim is to make the most of the public asset to renew our public works buildings and use part of the property to build market-driven housing and commercial spaces. This investment could potentially save Saanich taxpayers over $30 million in capital costs.
Over the next two years, the District will go through a process of selecting a partner to design and build municipal facilities at the site. A separate partner will then be selected to lead the development of market-driven residential and commercial use on lands near to McKenzie Avenue and Borden Street.
In the first half of 2025, residents can expect to see the property rezoned and the District start the process of borrowing money for the project.
Saanich is among a handful of communities in Canada exploring or experimenting with parking maximums, rather than minimums. What has the response been to parking maximums among developers, or is it too early to tell considering the newness of this policy?
It’s still too early to say, but taking this step to modernize our parking requirements is aimed at helping us get more affordable, infill housing built in our community by streamlining District processes and reducing costs for developers.
These measures also respond to the needs of folks who prefer living in walkable communities where they can access the services and amenities they want without the need for a car.
These changes don’t completely eliminate parking from buildings, though. The regulations still require accessible parking and loading spaces.
Saanich is committed to providing more sustainable and convenient transportation options that help reduce our environmental impact.
‘Road diets’ in exchange for bike lanes have emerged as an infrastructure theme in recent years throughout the Capital and are increasingly being implemented in Saanich along main thoroughfares. Has the District studied the impacts of these changes, in terms of travel times, mode share changes and impacts on local businesses?
We’re looking at how we can make our roads safer and more convenient for everyone. Whether you drive, bus, bike or walk, you should be able to get to where you need to go safely. That means putting infrastructure in place that protects road users from serious injury or death.
Saanich's Official Community Plan, Active Transportation Plan and Road Safety Plan prioritize safe, sustainable and efficient transportation options for everyone to get around in our community and across the region. These plans are designed to work with the Capital Regional District's (CRD) Transportation Master Plan, to ensure our local efforts contribute positively to the region-wide strategy.
We rely on data to make decisions, so we are collecting information and monitoring the effects of the changes. Part of our approach is assessing how the changes affect people who use the roads, how many people are using different modes of transportation, and how the changes affect local businesses. We will continue to monitor and make changes as needed.
We also engage with local communities and businesses to get their input. As decision-makers, it’s our aim to make things better for everyone getting around in our community, and make sure that everyone benefits from these changes.
The City of Victoria has signalled to neighbouring municipalities it needs assistance with a growing volume of people seeking shelter spaces. With those services come challenges and the potential for profound impacts on neighbourhoods. Is Saanich ready to accommodate expanded shelter spaces within its borders, and if so, has the District identified areas where such services will be situated?
Saanich is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our most vulnerable residents. The District is in the process of exploring opportunities to increase the number of Extreme Weather Response (EWR) shelter spaces available in the region.
Council made the decision to endorse a recommendation brought by staff to continue work with third-party community organizations to create additional EWR shelter spaces.
The District is grateful for the resources available at the Victoria Native Friendship Centre. We will continue working with BC Housing, whose primary area of responsibility is support for unhoused people. We value the positive impact these programs have on our community, and we’re dedicated to facilitating their progress.
By partnering with third-party community organizations, the District will be able to leverage facilities already equipped to provide emergency response, rather than outfitting existing municipal facilities. This will ensure quicker deployment of locations for expanded EWR shelter services.
Saanich staff are also exploring opportunities that are internal to the District, including the possible use of facilities and the implications associated with becoming involved in staffing. This would be an entirely new area for the District and therefore would not function as a short-term or immediate solution.
Saanich is moving towards substantial densification along its high traffic corridors, with the intent of creating mixed-use hubs along major routes. Could you speak to this?
We’re a growing community. As more people look to settle in our community, we want to ensure we’re adding homes around our centres and corridors. Places where individuals and their families can access services, like schools, parks and shopping, that are within walking distance of where they live.
Saanich’s Official Community Plan (OCP), along with other plans and policies, provides a framework for how Saanich will grow and change as a community.
These plans call for projects that mix residential and commercial use in areas like Uptown and along Shelbourne Street and McKenzie Avenue. Areas where we can add to the livability and vibrancy with amenities, services and green spaces.
This means that property developers and businesses have a great chance to invest in growing and exciting parts of our community.
With respect to the newly defined Transit Oriented Area zones introduced by the province, does this mean OCP and area plans in Saanich will be amended, and how will they be amended specifically regarding TOAs to provide greater certainty for developers?
Council designated the Transit-Oriented Areas by Bylaw in 2024, so they are fully in effect. The designated TOAs in Saanich are the Uptown Multi-modal Transit Hub/Exchange; the Royal Oak Transit Exchange; the University of Victoria (UVic) Transit Exchange; and the Victoria General Hospital (VGH) Transit Exchange (a Cross-Jurisdictional TOA).
The key points of this legislation are that they establish a minimum allowable height and density for residential development or mixed-use development, typically between 6 and 10 storeys (depending on where the property is located within a TOA). The applicants will still need to go through a rezoning process. Residential development in these areas is not subject to off-street parking requirements, so the developer can determine how much off-street parking to provide based on market demand and financial viability.
How does Saanich plan on dealing with services and amenities for all of the new residents expected to move to these newly densified hubs?
As more folks look to make Saanich home, it’s important that we’re planning for the services and amenities that contribute to the quality of life that Saanich residents enjoy and expect.
Saanich’s Official Community Plan (OCP) and Centre, Village, and Corridor Plans create a vision for how we will grow. The plans highlight land acquisition to create more parks and places for people to gather.
Saanich funds these plans in part through new development cost charges and amenity contributions while also prioritizing renewal of our assets, like infrastructure and recreation centres. As the population grows, the District’s property tax base is also increasing. Some of that added revenue is used to support the demand for services.
We’re looking at areas to support ongoing population growth with new recreation opportunities. This year, we’ll kick off the Lambrick Park campus planning process. Lambrick is home to the Gordon Head Recreation Centre and numerous sports fields. The planning process will allow us to provide more recreation opportunities, including a possible new ice rink for hockey and skating.
Switching gears to affordable housing, what is different about the municipal planning process when a developer is seeking approvals for a project with affordable housing, compared to market housing?
The District has a suite of supports available for affordable rental housing.
Among the most significant are the Rapid Deployment bylaws, which allow non-profit developers building affordable rental housing to build to the maximum height and density without a rezoning.
This process means non-profit housing providers can get the doors open on affordable homes much more quickly by providing more certainty in the application and approval process.
These projects also go through a delegated Development Permit process, meaning it takes less time to get Development Permit approval.
Affordable housing projects go to the ‘top of the pile’ when they are received and get a quicker turnaround through the review process from all District departments.
Saanich has a reputation for having an exceptionally slow development application and approval process. Can you speak to the changes that you intend to introduce, to expedite the municipal planning process and to encourage more developers to consider Saanich a place to do business and build homes?
The District has a Permit and Modernization (PAM) Program underway that will significantly improve the development application process by focusing on customer service, removing redundancies, prioritizing internal collaboration, and streamlining and digitizing processes.
The pre-application development process has become increasingly popular among modern municipalities. This 20-day process allows applicants and the municipality to engage in preliminary discussions about a proposal before its formal submission.
Applicants will get early feedback on their proposal without requiring a significant investment of resources. This often takes place during the conceptual stage of the project when there are several unknowns or risks, most notably concerning the application of municipal policies and bylaws.
For our staff, it provides an opportunity to guide the project towards a complete and compliant application.
Saanich is also one of the first municipalities to participate in the new Provincial Permit Hub. This tool offers a streamlined and standardized approach for building permit applications across jurisdictions in B.C., specifically supporting 1-4 dwelling unit applications.
We’re undertaking a fulsome review of the Building Permit process to improve efficiency from application intake to issuing occupancy. More improvements are coming in the next couple of months that will allow applicants to fully submit applications digitally, engage in two-way communication, check application status, submit payments and receive their permit.
Our aim is to make our processes as straightforward and predictable as possible to add certainty for developers and area residents who are relying on us to build a future for Saanich that contributes to the high quality of life we all enjoy. C
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