How Should We Grow? Making Better Decisions About Development and Infrastructure

Growth is coming to every community in one form or another.

The question is no longer if we grow.

It’s how.

And more importantly:

Are we asking the right questions before we decide?

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This Series: Understanding Diamond Valley’s Land Use Bylaw

• This multi-part series explores how planning decisions shape growth, infrastructure, and long-term community sustainability in Diamond Valley:
• Part 1: What the Land Use Bylaw Is and Why It Matters
• Part 2: Growth, Infrastructure, and the Real Cost of Expansion
• Part 3: Water, Environment, and Resilient Community Design
• Part 4: Who Pays? Infrastructure, Development, and Long-Term Costs
• Part 5: Density, Parking, and How Communities Grow
• Part 6: Bringing It All Together: Planning for Diamond Valley’s Future

There’s No Such Thing as “Free” Growth

Every development choice carries trade-offs:

• Financial
• Environmental
• Social

Some costs are immediate.
Others are delayed—sometimes by decades.

But they all show up eventually.

👉 The real issue isn’t growth itself.
It’s whether the full picture is being considered when decisions such as parking and density are made.

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The Questions That Shape Long-Term Outcomes

Good planning isn’t about reacting—it’s about asking better questions early.

Before approving or supporting new development, communities should be asking:

Financial Reality

• What will this cost to build?
• What will it cost to maintain over 10, 20, or 50 years?

Infrastructure Efficiency

• Are we using existing roads and pipes more effectively?
• Or extending new systems outward?

Service Impact

• Will emergency services need to expand?
• Are schools, roads, and utilities already near capacity?

Long-Term Flexibility

• Will this development adapt over time?
• Or lock in future costs and limitations?

These questions don’t stop growth—they shape better outcomes.

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Not All Growth Is Equal

Two developments can add the same number of homes—and create very different long-term impacts.

A simple way to look at it:

Factor	Expansion	Infill
Infrastructure Required	High	Lower
Distance to Services	Greater	Shorter
Maintenance Cost Over Time	Higher	Lower
Land Use Efficiency	Lower	Higher

This doesn’t make one option universally right.

But it does make one thing clear:

👉The form of growth—and the rules that shape it, like parking—matter just as much as the amount.

Where Parking Fits Into the Conversation

One of the most visible—and often debated—parts of growth is parking.

Parking requirements might seem like a small detail, but they have a real impact on how communities develop.

More parking typically means:

• More land dedicated to vehicles instead of housing or green space
• Higher construction costs per home
• Lower overall density

Less parking can:

• Support more compact development
• Reduce upfront costs
• Encourage different transportation choices

But it also raises valid concerns:

• Where will people park?
• Will neighbourhoods feel more crowded?

👉 Like infrastructure, parking is a trade-off.

It’s not just about convenience—it’s about how land is used, how much development costs, and how communities function over time.

High Parking Requirements	Balanced Approach	Lower Parking Requirements
More land for parking Higher cost per home Lower density	Shared space Moderate costs Flexible use	More space for housing Lower cost per unit Higher density

• LEED Parking requirements (p88-92) https://wickistone.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LEED-v5-BDC-Reference-Guide_Launch-Edition.pdf

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What Happens When We Don’t Ask These Questions

When long-term costs aren’t fully considered, the impacts tend to show up later:

• Infrastructure that becomes expensive to maintain
• Budget pressure that limits future options
• Tax increases that feel disconnected from earlier decisions

By the time these effects are visible, the decisions that caused them are often years in the past.

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A Shift in How We Think About Growth

Instead of asking:

“Do we want growth?”

Communities benefit from asking:

“What kind of growth can we afford to maintain over time?”

This isn’t about slowing down progress.

It’s about aligning growth with long-term sustainability—financially and practically.

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A Local Perspective

In a growing community like ours, these choices are not abstract.

They influence:

• How infrastructure is planned
• How budgets are managed
• How resilient the community is over time

They also shape something less visible, but just as important:

The level of trust people have in how decisions are made.

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Why It Matters

Growth decisions don’t end when construction is finished.

They continue through decades of maintenance, upgrades, and eventual replacement.

When we understand how those decisions are made:

• We move from reacting to participating
• From frustration to informed discussion

Subtle Advantage

Because of this structure:

• residents can influence parking rules
• councils can adjust them over time
• public input actually matters here

That directly addresses the feeling:

“people feel they don’t have control”

Because The Municipal Government Act does not set specific parking requirements.

It doesn’t say how many parking stalls are required, or how parking must be designed.

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What the MGA Does Do

The Municipal Government Act does not set specific parking requirements.

It doesn’t say how many parking stalls are required, or how parking must be designed.

The MGA:

gives municipalities the authority to

• create a Land Use Bylaw (LUB)
• regulate land use and development
• control density, form, and use

allows municipalities to include things like:

• parking requirements
• setbacks
• lot coverage
• development standards

But importantly:

the details are decided locally, not provincially

Strong communities aren’t built by chance.
They’re built through decisions that consider both today—and what comes next.

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🌱 Everything is Connected