Infill Fast-Track
Increasing the supply of infill housing - suites, carriage houses, and multiplexes - is consistent with many of the housing goals established in the 2040 Official Community Plan as well as residents' desire to curb sprawl and focus growth near existing infrastructure, services, and amenities. This is why the City is reducing barriers and streamlining development processes to create more homes, in more areas, more quickly.
Infill Fast-Track
The Fast-Track process is a specialized development approval process intended to speed up the necessary approvals for infill housing as a way to help increase housing supply and lower the barriers for construction of new housing. The Fast-Track program aims to have applications permitted within 10 business days.
Only pre-approved designs are eligible for the Fast-Track process. Approved designs allow 2 to 6 dwelling units per property.
Fast-Track Catalogue
More than 1,800 MF1-zoned lots in the City's Core Area are now eligible for Fast-Track approval.
View the catalogue to explore all 12 pre-approved designs.
Below are the following steps in the development process if you are considering moving forward with a Fast-Track infill development application:
Check out the mddl Lot Identification Tool to help determine if your lot is eligible for the Fast-Track program.
Lots that are not eligible for the Fast-Track may still be eligible for redevelopment. Contact the Planning Department at 250-469-8626 or [email protected] for more information about redevelopment potential.
Once you’ve confirmed your lot is eligible for Fast-Track approval, you can select one of the pre-approved designs from the Fast-Track Catalogue and contact the designer for more information.
Throughout the process you will incur fees, including:
- Building Permit fee
- Development Permit Fees
- Development Cost Charges
- Development Engineering Requirements
- Development Engineering Fees
- Frontage improvements
- Utility services
- Design fees
- Contact the designer for more information
These fees may vary and will be determined at the time of application. For more information, reach out to Development Planning at [email protected]
Apply for a Development and Building Permit at: https://www.kelowna.ca/homes-building/building-permits-inspections/apply-building-permit
The City of Kelowna has partnered with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to advance the use of standardized infill housing designs and streamline infill development. Through the CMHC Housing Design Catalogue (HDC), designs featuring 1–2 units only require a building permit and can now be accessed and downloaded directly from the CMHC HDC website.
For infill projects with 3–6 units, a development permit and a development variance permit are required.
Site plans and landscape plans will need to be customized by a coordinating professional to suit individual sites. The plans have been pre-reviewed against the City’s development permit building permit guidelines resulting in a faster process compared to standard submissions. Please note that the HDC designs will have accelerated approval timelines but will not qualify for the 10-day fast track timeline.
Questions?
Our Infill Fast-Track virtual assistant might be able to help! To start asking your questions, click on the blue chat icon in the bottom right corner of this page to launch the virtual assistant.
You can also refer to the FAQs below.
The Fast-Track process is a specialized development approval process intended to expedite the necessary approvals for infill housing as a method to try and increase housing supply and lower the barriers for construction of new housing.
Only pre-approved designs are eligible for the Fast-Track process. Approved designs allow 2 to 6 dwelling units per property.
The Fast-Track process combines a Development Permit and Building Permit application and aims to have both issued within 10 days of submitting a complete application.
This timeline is substantially reduced from a typical Development Permit and Building Permit application for infill housing which may take between 2 to 4 months.
*Please note that timelines may be impacted by FortisBC requirements or road dedication. Your Fast-Track Designer can help you determine if these may be project constraints.
Properties must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the Fast-Track process:
- Zoning:
- MF1 - Infill Housing
- Residential zones (RU1/RU2) with lots large enough to accommodate designs and meet zoning regulations
- Cannot be directly adjacent to a Transit Supportive Corridor
- Sewer connection must be available
- No corner lots or lots that have frontages on two streets (double fronting)
- Not within a Hazardous Condition or Natural Environment Development Permit area
- Property not Heritage Designated or under a Heritage Revitalization Agreement
- Less than 6% slope
- Not bordering the Agricultural Land Reserve
Check out the mddl Lot Identification Tool to help determine if your lot is eligible for Fast-Track!
Lots that are not eligible for the Fast-Track program may still be eligible for redevelopment. Contact the Planning Department at 250-469-8626 or [email protected] for more information about redevelopment potential.
Select the Fast-Track design you want to use and contact the designer. Designers can help coordinate application requirements. Once a complete application package is put together, applications can be made through the City’s permitting webpage.
A Fast-Track design can typically be stratified to create individual units which can be sold separately. Certain dwelling types, including secondary suites and carriage homes, cannot be stratified. If you are interested in stratifying your property, you will require the services of a lawyer and land surveyor. The City of Kelowna is not involved in the stratification process where there are no buildings on the parcel that have been previously occupied.
The following municipal fees apply to Fast-Track development applications:
- Building Permit fee
- Development Permit fee
- Development Cost Charges (DCC)
- Development Engineering Fees
Separate from fees paid to the City, a fee must also be paid to the designer of the Fast-Track design you wish to use. These fees are set by each individual building designer independently of the City.
The building designer of the Fast-Track design you choose can help to coordinate application requirements, along with your builder. The following application requirements must be submitted in order for your application to be deemed complete:
- Application Checklist (and all mentioned items)
- Application Form
- Application Fees
- Current State of Title (within the last 30 days) & any Registered Easements, Covenants, ROW’s, etc.
- Owners Authorization Form (if applicant is not the registered owner on Title)
- Owner’s Acknowledgement Form
Kelowna is growing fast and becoming more diverse. Diverse housing options are needed to support our growing community and improve affordability. The City also can’t afford to keep building outwards – which is why it's important to put existing neighbourhoods to further use in order to create more much-needed homes for people in a sustainable way. Infill helps us keep servicing costs and taxes lower, and helps protect our natural environment.
