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A public hearing has been set for a plan to change the zoning of 99 percent of single-family lots in Vancouver.

The proposed mass rezoning will allow the building of duplexes or two-family dwellings in more than 67,000 properties.

The public hearing is scheduled on September 18.

According to a city staff report, the move will “provide an additional housing option in low-density areas across Vancouver”.

“This interim measure will allow for modest change in neighbourhoods while additional housing opportunities are explored and advanced over the coming year,” stated the report prepared by Dan Garrison, assistant director for housing policy and regulation.

The document noted that single-family zones currently allow three units on one lot: a house with a secondary suite, and a laneway house.

The proposed zoning changes will cover seven classifications of lots, which account for 99 percent of 68,000 properties zoned as single-family.

Excluded are the single-family areas located between West 37th Avenue and West 49th Avenues, from Granville to Cypress streets.

According to the report, these areas are “generally comprised of large, irregular lots with a significant stock of character homes”.

These properties account for one percent of single-family lots in the city. Other housing opportunities “beyond duplex” will be identified later for these lots.

“The new regulations would continue to allow for the construction of a one-family dwelling, one-family dwelling with a secondary suite (both of which are allowed to have a laneway house) or a duplex,” according to the staff report.

It noted that a laneway house will “not be permitted in conjunction with a duplex”.

The zoning changes will not grant extra floor area duplex “at this time” over what is allowed for a single house.

According to the report, it is anticipated that the new zoning regulations will result to a “modest” increase in land values.

“On average 800 houses are demolished and replaced with a new house or a house with a secondary suite annually,” the report noted. “If patterns continue and half of the homeowners who are planning to replace a house in the coming year chose to rebuild using the new duplex option, we could see about 400 duplexes built over the course of a year.”