Proposed Stratford development deferred over affordability, environmental concerns

A proposed development that would see 68 townhomes built in Stratford east end was referred back to staff due to questions about the number of affordable units and environmental initiatives in the homes.

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During Monday night meeting, council heard a presentation from planner Julia von Westerholt, a consultant presenting on behalf of the applicant, Paradize Properties Development Ltd.

According to von Westerholt, the constraints of the subject lands, which are located between Douro Street and County Road 111, limited the number of possible designs for building housing on the land

“Given the parcel size, there were not a lot of design options that were feasible for the subdivision. . . . The options were discussed and explored with the applicant, and in the end, the most economic (choice) was presented by the applicants,” she told council

The proposal would require an official plan amendment and a zoning bylaw amendment to designate the lands, which are currently being used for farmland, for medium-density residential land use.

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The proposed medium density with a special provision designation would permit a maximum of four stores and a maximum density of 65 units per hectare. To achieve the goal of 25 per cent affordable housing, the plan presented to council called for 40 per cent of the units to be in forms other than single-detached dwellings.

However, the question about whether or not this affordability aspect would be a requirement was called into question Monday, notably by Coun. Lesley Biehn.

“With the talk of having 25 per cent affordable homes in the area, is there any guarantee or commitment, or is that just sort of hopefully it will happen, and that would be nice if it would happen, but it’s not a commitment? I just want to clarify that if we do rezone, or any of those things are passed, that they’re not connected in any way the promise of the 25 per cent and the rezoning,” she said.

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While Adam Betteridge, the city’s director of building and planning, explained the 2016 official plan calls for 25 per cent of all new housing developments to be affordable, it’s not reflective of today’s current needs.

“In today’s cost of development, trying to achieve 25 per cent on any development. . . is pretty significant. . . . It’s certainly a target. It’s meant across the city,” he said.

It also does not mean that every individual development has to achieve that target, he added, “but, asa whole, as the city’s moving forward, we’re moving towards that target.”

Coun. Geza Wordorfa asked how much the homes would sell for, but Punya Sagar of Municipal Development & Planning Services, who was answering questions on behalf of Paradize, was unable to provide an answer since the actual design for the homes has not progressed very far.

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“It’ll be market affordable for sure, for all the houses, and we’ll work with the staff to make sure that affordable housing will be there as a part of design,” he said.

Environmental concerns

Also discussed during the presentation were environmental concerns posed by the new development. Resident Mike Sullivan, who said he was speaking on behalf of local advocacy group Climate Momentum, noted the planning report made no mention about energy conservation, climate change or greenhouse gas avoidance.

Sullivan, who pointed out the city has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent of 2017 levels in the next six years, said buildings in the city will no longer be able to use natural gas by 2050. If this new development employs natural gas, the homes will have to be converted, he said.

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“There is nothing preventing the city from making demands of these builders, these developers, that they build without natural gas heating or hot water. The technology for heat pumps is now on par in terms of cost with gas furnaces and hot water. (It’s) no longer more expensive to build a home with a heat pump than it is to build with a natural gas furnace,” he said.

Sullivan found sympathetic ears in Coun. Larry McCabe, who asked if the developer would consider heat pumps, and in Jo-Dee Burbach, who asked of staff if there was a way to restrict natural gas developments. Betteridge, though, told the councilors there was no way to impose these restrictions if the homes meeting the province’s building code.

Because there were questions that staff and Sagar were unable to answer, Betteridge suggested council could make a motion to defer the decision until staff could provide more information on affordability and climate design. The motion passed with only Wordofa in opposition. Coun. Brad Beatty was absent from the meeting.

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