February 1, 2018…

February 1, 2018

Laurie Miller

Director

Provincial Planning Policy Branch

777 Bay Street, 13th Floor

Toronto, ON, M5G 2E5

Dear Ms. Miller,

Re: EBR 013-1977: Proposed Regulation under the Planning Act related to Inclusionary Zoning

The City of Brantford appreciates the opportunity to comment on the above posting. However, in light of the tight deadline set by the Province, we are not able to provide you with an official resolution or comments from City of Brantford Council. Accordingly, this letter is provided to you as input to your public consultation process and a letter and related Report, accompanied by a Council Resolution will follow by the end of March, which is the earliest we can take a Report to Council.

In general, municipal staff support tools or incentives that would assist with the creation of affordable housing, particularly by the private sector. However, City of Brantford Staff are concerned with the onerous and complex administrative and financial requirements that would be imposed on the municipality under the proposed regulation. This letter summarizes comments and concerns from City of Brantford Staff.

Provincial Powers to Prescribe

City of Brantford Staff supports an optional framework for any inclusionary zoning policy which would allow for proper consultation with stakeholders, including the local development community, real estate community, and the public to seek further input on whether inclusionary zoning is an appropriate tool to increase the supply of affordable housing in Brantford.

Mandated Units (Item 1.a)

City of Brantford Staff are of the opinion that municipalities should have the flexibility to determine the mandated affordable units to address local context and needs. For example, the municipality may choose to lower the proposed 20 unit threshold because smaller sized developments are more common. Furthermore, instead of the mandated 5 percent maximum units, the Province may want to reconsider this as a minimum number or to increase the percentage requirement, as the current maximum of 5 percent may not be enough to generate the volume of units needed to achieve the municipality’s affordable housing targets.

Furthermore City of Brantford Staff strongly believe that purpose-built rental developments should not be exempted from the proposed regulation. Most municipalities are in greater need of affordable rental housing and this exemption will prevent municipalities from serving this need and meeting other targets required under the Provincial Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Exempting purpose-built rental developments will result in a lost opportunity for increasing the supply of affordable housing, as well as addressing the need for a range and mix of housing to meet the community’s needs. Reporting Requirements (Item 2)

City of Brantford Staff note that the requirement to prepare a report every two years documenting the status of the affordable housing units is onerous, and would require administration and monitoring beyond what is already tracked by the municipality. Additionally, it is recommended that the 2 year reporting requirements be incorporated into the 5-year assessment report, and require only one report every 5 years to minimize the administrative burden on the municipality. There is also a concern that some of the homeowners’ information required to be collected is an undue invasion of privacy.

Financial Incentives (Item 3.c)

City of Brantford Staff note that while reducing or waiving planning application fees and other requirements does not require an additional budget to fund the incentive program, it is ultimately a net financial loss to the municipality. Furthermore, the requirement for municipalities to use these prescribed fees to offset affordable housing units is problematic as these fees are also relied upon to cover the costs of program and service delivery, and does not yet address any increase in costs for reporting and monitoring under the proposed regulation.

For some developments, financial incentive may not be required to ensure the development’s viability to include affordable housing units, particularly if other funding sources are available; therefore mandatory municipal contributions might actually over-subsidize developers. The municipality should be given flexibility to determine the appropriate financial incentive tools and formulas to achieve affordable housing targets.

Price (Item 3.d)

While City of Brantford Staff support the ability to formulate policies that consider local demographics, income and geography, due to a lack of consistently available and accessible data, there may also be difficulty in setting affordable housing price levels on a yearly basis, as well as determining average market price by unit type and by location.

Affordability Period and Equity-Sharing (Item 3.b and Item 4)

The Province’s proposed mandatory equity-sharing schedule is very complicated and requires further clarification before its implications can be fully assessed. In particular, under Item 4(i), it’s not clear whether equity sharing takes place on the first sale of a unit that is newly constructed, and whether there is a limit to the number of ownership changes in which the equity-sharing provisions apply. In the case of newly constructed units that must share equity with the municipality, under a ratio determined by municipal by-law, there is the possibility that neighbouring municipalities may compete with developers choosing to locate in communities where there is a more favourable equity-sharing ratio. During the prescribed affordability period, equity-sharing may also negatively impact the value and demand for a home or condo unit under an affordable housing agreement.

Offsite Location (Item 6)

Monitoring the construction of offsite units can become complex and there is not enough clarity in regard to enforcing the construction, time frame or financing for offsite units. The proposed regulations to allow offsite re-location of the affordable housing units may also undermine the goal of inclusive and integrated communities.

General Comments

As currently worded, City Staff are concerned that the number of new affordable units anticipated to result from the regulation is inappropriately outweighed by the costs directly related to municipal administration, enforcement, and the financial incentive required. Currently, there is no budget or staff capacity at the City of Brantford to immediately implement the new regulations, as worded. Furthermore, the current financial incentive model may also deduct money that could otherwise be used to help offset onerous municipal administration and enforcement costs.

Under existing market conditions, the proposed regulations do not address the fact that average market sale prices are much higher than what is considered truly affordable. Under the proposed regulation, the municipality would identify an approach to setting an average market price for each proposed unit type and location. The existing approach used by the City’s Housing Department aligns the municipal definition of “affordable” with the definition used by the Province, which is the least expensive of the following:

•The purchase price results in annual accommodation costs which do not exceed 30 percent of gross annual household income for low and moderate income households; or •The purchase price is at least 10 percent below the average purchase price of a resale unit in the regional market area.

With ever increasing market prices, the gap between the cost of a home and these affordability criteria grows wider. Without financial incentives, the private sector may not provide the volume of affordable housing units that are required, nor at a price point affordable enough for those who need it most.

Lastly, it is unclear if there is any regulation that would prevent owners of affordable housing units from in turn renting these units to others, and potentially at a rent value that is not affordable.

Ultimately, if the existing regulations are passed in their current form, City of Brantford Staff are not likely to recommend adoption of inclusionary zoning policies at this time to Council.

I hope this is of assistance and if you have any questions please just email me at lhives@brantford.ca or give me a call at 519-759-4150, ext. 5434.

Yours truly,

Lucy Hives, MCIP, RPP

Director of Planning

Planning Department - Community Development Services

City of Brantford

T: 519-759-4150

E: lhives@brantford.ca

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[Original Comment ID: 212336]