I was a city manager for 11 years, and I know what happens behind the counter. During that time, the City of Port Moody had the highest percentage of construction of any municipality in British Columbia. We need bureaucrats to adopt an entrepreneurial attitude, to be cognizant of the housing crisis and to get out of the way.
One of the recipes would be to have a single list of requirements at the start of a process, not a multitude of committees turning the crank and adding requirements as you go or people behind the planning counter making decisions about what they like and don't like. Somebody would bring an application and receive a list of things to do to get an approval. It should not be about what you like. It should be about delivering housing quickly and efficiently, and making sure that, as you do so, you don't cause issues for the neighbours—you know, things like the water from a site draining onto somebody else's property. Those are technical issues, and they should be addressed clearly and simply.