Question 1: - some land…

Question 1:
- some land available suitable for plan of subdivision, but lack of local or semi-nearby developers that can take on such a task; even if they do take on, timelines can be long for completion due to lack of tradespeople, costs for material and/or bringing tradesfolks in from other places, all which contributes to higher end prices
- few local developers, including small-scale
- being both northern and rural means most households own at least 2 cars (anecdotal) or more, which means a ton of parking is required, which means additional expenses to provide parking and additional land to be used for parking means less space for housing for people! expanded public transportation options (especially train and local bus), active transportation routes, and increased density allowed in the settlement area, particularly downtown/commercial core might reduce multi-vehicle dependency and provide more land for housing

Question 2:
- let us levy taxes on vacant land - encourage development on the lands that are already serviced and available in our communities so that we don't have to develop greenfields
- more support for our non-profit providers so that they have access to capital to provide both market and affordable/assisted/seniors/etc housing to build and run/maintain but also require them to use it to build housing
- support Indigenous groups/communities in building off-reserve housing if they so desire

Question 3:
- allow us to levy vacant land tax
- upzone single-density lands to allow up to 4 units as of right if the municipality/city doesn't do it themselves (don't restrict to just larger population places, we need housing too!)
- additional funds for municipality, local service providers (esp. non-profits) as we have trouble attracting outside investment despite opportunity and needs being there
- help advertise small communities like ours to potential developers where lands are available and ready for housing development
- require municipalities to update their zoning by-laws to conform with their OPs with an actual penalty if not done within a certain amount of time. offer funding to help with this process if/where needed

Question 4:
- please don't forget about us when implementing! just because we are small, northern and rural doesn't mean we don't have many of the same problems larger more urban places do - and because of our remoteness and lack of local resources, in some ways we have it harder
- consider providing some planning 'best-practices' learning for planners and municipal councillors to help address common concerns and brainstorm solutions for our unique communities. the key thing is making sure councillors are involved because planners can only do so much in our political environment.