Fewer parking spaces proposed for Sarnia affordable rental projects

Property tax freezes, grants for reno work and study costs, and relaxed parking space requirements are some of the proposals in a draft Sarnia plan to boost affordable housing construction in the city.

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“There’s obviously a huge interest and a huge need for new, affordable housing that we are seeing different actions and activities and programs from different levels of government,” said Tim Welch, of Tim Welch Consulting, contracted, along with NPG Planning Solutions, more than a year ago to craft the $50,000 plan.

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Delays have happened amid provincial legislation changes, first with the More Homes Built Faster Act that also changed development charge calculations and exempted some projects from paying those infrastructure-cost-related fees, he said.

More recently Bill 134 was introduced at Queen’s Park potentially to change the definition of affordable rental housing to not exceed 30 per cent of a person’s income, in the 60th percentile of gross annual incomes for renter households in the applicable local municipality.

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Hopes are, after a definition is set provincially, to bring the affordable rental housing community improvement plan for council to consider early in 2024, Welch said.

“And to have implementation happen by no later than the second quarter of 2024.”

Among the draft five-year plan’s proposals, taxes for new affordable housing developments would be frozen at those sites for up to 10 years, Welch said.

“In the long run, after the 10 years, there will be increased revenue to the city, once the affordable housing projects are up and running,” he said.

Grants of up to $35,000 for building permits, up to $4,000 for planning fees, and up to $10,000 for feasibility studies measuring things such as traffic impact also are proposed, as are grants for accessibility improvements to rental housing, he said, noting those could be for places such as apartments above downtown stores.

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“The study is also recommending a grant of up to $20,000 a unit toward the creation of additional residential units,” he said.

Those would be for projects anywhere in the city, he said.

A requirement to build as few as 0.75 parking spaces per unit — 75 spaces for a 100-unit build, for instance — would, however, only apply in specific zones, including downtown and mixed-use corridors in the city, officials said.

The reason is “tied to some of the higher-order land use designations around our major sites,” city community services general manager Stacey Forfar said.

“It’s not meant to exclude all areas of the city and it’s certainly something we’re actively looking at,” she added.

That includes looking at reduced parking requirements for all land uses, not just affordable residential projects, as part of the city’s draft zoning bylaw, coming to council for consideration Nov. 20, she said.

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Sarnia’s current parking space requirement is double the proposal, at 1.5 spaces per unit.

Council recently heard similarly sized municipalities with more current bylaws — Sarnia’s is about 20 years old — typically allow 0.8 spaces a unit.

But allowing only 0.75 parking spaces a unit doesn’t mean developers couldn’t create more, Welch said, in response to a concern raised by Coun. Anne Marie Gillis, about seniors worrying there won’t be enough spaces for support workers to park when they visit.

Seniors rely on those workers to age at home, Gillis said.

“I think a lot of proponents, whether it’s private sector or non-profit groups will somewhat know their audience and know their market” to incorporate more spaces if needed, Welch said.

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Having flexibility makes projects that don’t need that extra parking start more easily, he said.

“That means they wouldn’t necessarily have to have a minor variance application and go to the committee of adjustment,” he said.

“It could go straight to the site plan process.”

The affordable rental housing community improvement plan is meant to work in tandem with provincial legislation like the More Homes Built Faster Act that offers exemptions from development charges or from dedicating parkland for affordable rental projects, as well as a County of Lambton affordable housing seed funding programmeant to help with pre-development costs for new affordable housing projects, city officials said in a report.

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The city program could be combined with the county’s “to support further the development of affordable rental housing with in the city,” the report reads.

Development charges, meanwhile, as part of a separate $193,000 study and bylaw updateare expected to rise about 30 per cent, said Daryl Abbs with consultant Watson and Associates.

The bylaw update has been a work in progress since 2020, he said.

Under the More Homes Built Faster Act, development charges have to be phased in, he said.

“So, it’s actually a decrease from what the current charges are.”

For example, building a single-detached home in Sarnia’s development area two currently carries about $36,000 in development charges, he said.

That would increase to $43,400 under the new bylaw — expected to come back for council approval Dec. 11 — but only $34,000 could be charged in the first year.

More details about both studies are available at speakupsarnia.ca and comments can be submitted to [email protected].

[email protected]

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