Opportunities to increase…

Opportunities to increase missing middle housing and gentle density, including supports for multigenerational housing
Discussion Questions and Answers submitted by Lauree Armstrong, MCIP, RPP, Township Planner, Township of Laurentian Valley.
Question 1:
• What are the biggest barriers and delays to diversifying the types of housing built in existing neighbourhoods?

Answer 1:

The biggest barriers and delays include:
- Lack of funding for new infrastructure (sewer and water), heavy burden on developer with rising costs;
- Lack of capacity in existing infrastructure to accommodate;
- Lack of certainty of provincial policies ie ESA continually changing requirements as move thru approval process;
- Delays in response from provincial agencies, ie MTO, MECP, and costs of associated studies and permitting etc.;
- Getting developers wanting to build different types of housing than what they know and what they know they can sell in some communities;
- Residents wanting to have a similar neighbourhood to what they have and being resistant to increased density beyond apartments in houses. Over-intensification concerns related to traffic and parking issues where no transit.
- Many communities already streamline approvals and there is always opportunities to review and improve practices somewhat, however at some point the issue is becoming the lack of capacity in municipalities – staff or dollars to hire additional staff to be able to process and pre-consult in a quicker fashion. This issue is not solely related to diversifying housing types but plays a role in the delay issue of processing all development applications.
Question 2:
• What further changes to the planning and development process would you suggest to make it easier to support gentle density and build missing middle housing and multigenerational housing, in Ontario?

Answer 2
The existing additional dwelling unit policy has provided the tools to start to stimulate some gentle intensification. Increasing the number of units beyond that in all residential zones runs the risk of creating additional issues related to capacity of neighbourhoods to accommodate higher density mixed within. The up to three units allowed for with the ADU policy is a start that has not had enough time to have an impact as it doesn’t happen overnight but it is starting to occur in many communities and increase in popularity as an option. This could be expanded to eliminating zones that are limited to single detached dwellings where full services but in rural areas on private servicing that becomes more complicated and the lower density is sometimes all that the area can support. An approach to having all residential zones also permit 4 storey apartment buildings should not be applied as a blanket approach across the province. A Community need an opportunity to determine what development is best for that area given its unique geography, infrastructure capacity and character. There needs to be some control to also provide some certainty for infrastructure planning.

This is a complex issue that requires more time for discussion. Due to the extremely high volume of work that is being experienced by many municipal planners and the large volume of municipal legislation coupled with the short time-frame to respond to this very important question as well as the lack of time to bring proper reports to Council, additional time and discussion is required to provide a better strategy to develop some real solutions to help achieve the outcomes that are desired with more attainable housing for everyone.

Question 3:
• Are you aware of innovative approaches to land use planning and community building from other jurisdictions that would help increase the supply of missing middle and multigenerational housing?

Answer 3:

I am not aware of specific examples at this time that would be suited to Ontario.
Question 4:
• Are there any other changes that would help support opportunities for missing middle and multigenerational housing?

Answer 4:

Funding incentives to stimulate a wider range of housing types would be helpful particularly in areas outside the CMAs. Due to infrastructure costs, hydro costs, challenges sometimes related to private servicing, it can be difficult to get some developers to build other than single detached dwellings as it is what they know and what they know they can sell. Incentives of funding support may help to stimulate this. Tax rebates for conversions of homes of for multi-generations could also be helpful.