Land use contracts
A Land Use Contract (LUC) is an agreement between a local government and a land owner that provided the land owner with development rights over and above what was allowed under current zoning. This was typically done in exchange for commitments by developers to help finance the infrastructure costs of development. LUCs were a tool regularly used in the 1970s before they were eliminated on Nov. 15, 1978.
LUCs supersede any subsequent bylaw dealing with land use and development including: Zoning Bylaws, Development Cost Charge Bylaws, Subdivision, Development and Servicing Bylaw No. 7900, and Development Permits. Before 2014, the only way an LUC could be eliminated was through a discharge process by the land owner.
The Province has mandated that LUCs must be terminated by 2024. We’re in the process of terminating LUCs and putting in place appropriate zoning regulations to replace them. The tables below show the status of LUCs in Kelowna.
Read the Land Use Contract Bulletin for more information.
CATEGORY | # OF LAND USE CONTRACT | # OF PROPERTIES AFFECTED |
Commercial / Industrial | 23 | 83 |
Multi-family / Two-family | 21 | 43 |
Single Family | 19 | 305 |
Public / Institutional | 3 | 3 |
Mixed Use | 1 | 1 |
Total | 67 | 435 |
Application # | LUC # | # of Properties | Addresses / Area | Discharged (D) / Terminated (T) |
2014 |
|
|
|
|
LUC14-0001 / Z14-0043 / S15-0009 | LUC76-1043 | 1 out of 28 | 1020 Sutcliffe Ct | D |
2015 | ||||
LUC15-0001 / S14-0075 | LUC76-1114 | 1 out of 16 | 1890 Baron Rd (1655 Leckie Rd) | D |
LUC15-0002 | LUC77-1002 | 1 out of 169 | 371 Stellar Dr | D |
2016 | ||||
LUC16-0001 / Z16-0009 / DP16-0046 / DVP16-0047 | LUC77-1012 | 1 | 5080,5082 Lakeshore Rd | D |
LUCT16-0001 | LUC77-1012 | 1 out of 2 | 5076 Lakeshore Rd | T |
LUC16-0002 | LUC76-1088 / LUC78-1024 | 1 | 1945 Bennett Rd | D |
LUCT16-0002 | LUC76-1088 / LUC78-1024 | 68 | Bennett Rd Area | T |
LUC16-0003 | LUC78-1024 | 1 | 1960 Paly Rd | D |
2017 | ||||
LUC17-0001 | LUC76-1087 | 1 | 482 Clifton Rd N | D |
LUCT17-0002 | LUC76-1087 | 23 | Clifton Rd N Area | T |
LUC17-0002 / Z17-0049 | LUC77-1002 | 1 | 521 Curlew Dr | D |
LUCT17-0001 / Z17-0062 | LUC77-1002 | 167 | Curlew Dr Area | T |
LUC17-0003 / DP17-0223 / DVP17-0224 / S18-0030 | LUC77-1015 | 1 | 120 Old Vernon Rd | D |
LUCT17-0003 / Z18-0005 | LUC77-1015 / LUC77-1082 | 2 | Old Vernon Rd Area | T |
Application # | LUC # | # of Properties | Addresses / Area | Discharge (D) / Terminate (T) |
LUC18-0002 / Z18-0030 | LUC77-1001 | 1 | 5321 Grouse Ave | D |
LUCT18-0001 / Z18-0054 | LUC77-1001 | 123 | Grouse Ave Area | T |
LUC18-0003 / Z18-0051 | LUC76-1041 | 1 | 649 Drummond Crt | D |
LUCT18-0002 / Z18-0089 | LUC76-1041 | 21 | Drummond Crt / Barnaby Rd | T |
LUCT18-0003 | LUC76-1032 | 1 | 1519 Pioneer Rd | T |
LUCT18-0004 | LUC76-1033 | 1 | 3308 Slater Rd | T |
LUCT18-0005 | LUC76-1063 | 2 | 831,841 Tronson Crt | T |
LUCT18-0006 | LUC76-1104 | 4 | 7770,7782,7800,7810 Hwy 97 N | T |
LUCT18-0007 | LUC76-1112 | 2 | 2810,2840 Boyd Rd | T |
LUCT18-0008 | LUC77-1046 | 1 | 1485 Pioneer Rd | T |
LUCT18-0009 | LUC77-1052 | 2 | 373,379 Yates Rd | T |
LUCT18-0010 | LUC77-1072 | 1 | 155 Snowsell St | T |
LUCT18-0011 | LUC76-1080 | 30 | Hall Rd Area | T |
LUCT18-0012 | LUC78-1034 | 57 | Summerside Dr Area | T |
LUCT18-0013 / Z18-0092 | LUC77-1012 | 1 | 5064 Lakeshore Rd | T |
LUC18-0004 / Z18-0071 / DP18-0132 / DVP18-0133 / OCP18-0015 | LUC76-1039 | 1 | 1940 Underhill St | D |
LUC18-0005 / DP18-0096 | LUC76-1054 | 1 | 1717 Harvey Ave | D |
From 1978 to 2014, municipalities or the owners of the land couldn’t unilaterally discharge, cancel or modify the LUC without the other party’s consent. This has limited the number of LUCs the City has been able to discharge.
The Local Government Act was amended in 2014 to address the LUC issue. Municipalities were provided a second method of cancelling LUCs: termination. LUC terminations provide the ability for municipalities to cancel LUCs without the owner’s consent, as stated in Section 548 of the Local Government Act.
Discharging and terminating both have the same process, except that Land Use Contract terminations (unlike LUC discharges) don’t apply as soon as Council adopts the bylaw. Terminations require a one-year grace period as outlined by the Local Government Act. Furthermore, the municipality must send additional letters after the one-year grace period is complete to inform the property owners of the new land use regulations that apply to their properties.
Property owners are allowed to appeal LUC terminations to extend the length of time the LUC is in force beyond the required one-year grace period. To appeal an LUC termination, the owner would approach the Board of Variance and explain that terminating the LUC one year after Council adoption would cause hardship. The Board of Variance would then decide whether to grant the extension. If the extension is granted, the LUC will be terminated after the extended period with no opportunity to extend again. The application to the Board of Variance must be received within six months after the LUC Termination Bylaw has been adopted by City Council.
According to the Local Government Act, as of June 30, 2024, all land use contracts will be terminated. Therefore, land use contracts will remain in force until that date unless terminated early by the municipality. However, by June 20, 2022, local governments must have appropriate zoning regulations to replace land use contracts upon their termination as not all properties have the appropriate underlying zoning.
If a property sits within the boundaries of an LUC, all land use regulations are defined in the LUC. However, all properties in Kelowna have been assigned a zone from the Zoning Bylaw No. 8000, including those properties that are governed by LUCs. The term “underlying zone” is used to refer to the zone assigned to a property that is regulated by an LUC.
Although all properties regulated by LUCs have an underlying zone, the underlying zone has no effect on the land uses, density or building siting until the LUC is terminated or discharged. Once the LUC has been discharged or terminated, the underlying zoning for the property automatically comes into effect.
According to Council Notification Policy #367 and Development Application Procedures Bylaw #10540, when a LUC termination that doesn’t require a rezoning is processed, notices such as mailouts will only be sent to affected properties. However, when a rezoning is required, properties within 50 metres of the LUC termination and rezoning will receive notices. If the termination impacts 10 or more properties, this isn’t required. In addition, all LUC terminations will require notification signage as per Section 9.14 Notice of Termination in the Local Government Act:
Local governments must provide notice to each owner that the termination of land use contract is occurring and must provide notice of what the new zoning regulations apply to the land. The notice must state the bylaw becomes “in force” one year following the date of the bylaw adoption, and inform the owner of their right to apply to the Board of Variance for an extension of the “in force” date.
The City will be terminating as many land use contracts as possible before 2022, because performing all the public hearings related to zoning changes and notifications at once would be overwhelming. Therefore, staff will be bringing bundles of Land Use Contracts to Council every year starting in 2017. By 2022, staff should have completed termination of all remaining Land Use Contracts.
Council approved the Strategy for Eliminating Land Use Contracts on Sept. 12, 2016.