Saskatoon City Council has agreed to go ahead with four significant changes to the City’s zoning bylaw by request of the Federal Housing Minister.
Several months ago, the City of Saskatoon had applied for the Housing Accelerator Fund, which would provide roughly $45 million towards addressing housing supply and affordability.
In mid-October, Mayor Clark’s office received a letter from Sean Fraser requesting that the City legalize up to four units on large enough properties city wide, legalize up to four storeys within 800 metres of planned rapid transit, reduce parking requirements near rapid transit bus routes, and increase housing density in walking distance of the University of Saskatchewan.
Lesley Anderson, City Director of Planning and Development, says the changes are extensive and very different to what Saskatoon has done in the past.
She adds that there is a limited amount of time for public engagement on the topic if the City wants a better chance of securing the funding.
“I am worried that if we aren’t able to finish going through this application and get it through to the approval point, that we will no longer be in the smaller pool of consideration for the funding, and we will be in a much larger pool with a much larger number of municipalities and so we are less likely to get that funding.” She expects the amount of money received will be roughly $45 million if Saskatoon is approved.
Councilor Cynthia Block opposed the recommendations, as there will not be enough time for adequate public engagement.
“I just don’t think I can support it right now knowing that we don’t have answers for our community. We don’t have any plan to consult, to bring them up to where we are. I worry a lot about the neighborhoods that I represent,” she admitted.
The zoning bylaw was not yet amended with this vote. Amendments will be brought forward at public hearings in the spring. With the approval, the City will now provide a formal response
confirming the amendments to the federal government.
CEO of the Saskatchewan Realtors Association, Chris Guerette, wrote to Mayor Clark on Monday to express her support for the Housing Accelerator Fund proposal, as the country is dealing with an acute housing inventory crisis.
