Possible changes to residential zoning to allow for some multi-unit housing is not the only way Saskatoon’s City Council is looking at increasing affordable housing. The topic of residential zoning will be discussed at a special public meeting on Thursday, but at Wednesday’s Council meeting Administration recommended four sites the city owns which could be sold to be used specifically for affordable housing.

The sites were approved, and it was stipulated that when it comes to making decisions about offers, the bid amounts will be considered after all the other evaluation metrics. Councillors discussed a bylaw issue which would mean that for three of the sites, the net revenue would go to the Property Realized Reserve, but the Affordable Housing Reserve is low, so the hope was to have the funds directed there. Mayor Charlie Clark said, “The fact that we have not had enough money in our affordable housing reserve, specifically in the last few years, to be able to play the same role we have been playing for over a decade in terms of providing support to housing providers to me is a real concern.” Council has asked Administration to report back in the fall on the health of the two Reserve funds.

Two of the plots are parking lots downtown. One is across from police headquarters. The other is at 155-3rd Avenue North combined with 231 -23rd Street East. The third site is a section on the Lakewood Civic Centre property and the fourth is the southeast corner of Broadway and Ruth, where there used to be an electrical substation.