It was supposed to be the year that the final details were worked out for the future of developing South Brookswood and Fernridge.

Instead, after revising three neighbourhood plans, twice, 91原创 Township council ended the year with the neighbourhood鈥檚 future in limbo as provincial housing reforms changed all the rules.

In the spring, the council moved forward with neighbourhood plans for Booth, Rinn, and Fernridge, three of the neighbourhoods for the southern, largely undeveloped portion of the neighbourhood.

The neighbourhood plans would set out detailed maps showing how the areas would develop over the coming decades 鈥� where local shopping and parks would be located, what densities of housing would be allowed, and how many people would ultimately live there.

Previous draft versions of the plan had been deemed to be economically non-viable, and the Township moved fast on re-drafting them, with public input coming in early in the year and open houses in the spring.

The first version of the plans would have increased total population to about 63,000 people, up from 39,000 in previous drafts of the plans.

Although the response at an open house was largely positive, there were some concerns. Council asked staff to go back to the drawing board for one more round of revisions, based on a series of amendments.

The new version would have a total population for the three neighbourhoods of about 46,000 people and slightly lower densities.

Both versions emphasized greenways and parks, denser developments near 200th Street and 208th Street, and phased development along major routes.

鈥淭his plan is not going to be like Willoughby,鈥� Councillor Steve Ferguson said as council voted to approve the plans in July, saying the area will look more like Murrayville when it is fully developed.

But the final version of the plan would fall victim to new provincial legislation that was aimed at alleviating B.C.鈥檚 housing affordability crisis.

In the fall, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon introduced a series of ambitious reforms in a series of bills at the B.C. Legislature. One of them, Bill 44, included the effective end of single-family zoning in large swathes of the province. Those provisions would affect the new neighbourhoods.

In effect, every area the Township had just planned for single-family housing would now be open for threeplex and fourplex development.

鈥淚t is conducting surgery on housing policy with a chainsaw,鈥� 91原创 Township Mayor Eric Woodward said.

The concern was that adding so much more density would throw off the plans for parks, schools, sewer and water servicing, and the local road networks. The plans would no longer be viable.

Township staff estimated that based on maximum buildout of the new housing types, the change could boost the population of the South Brookswood area to 120,000 people. The Township is currently believed to have about 150,000 residents in total.

In early December, the council voted to begin a repeal process on the Booth, Rinn, and Fernridge neighbourhood plans if it could not secure an exemption from the Bill 44 rules from the province.

It is likely that the plans will be revamped again.