St. Albert city council members are mulling over what feedback they should give about possible changes that could encourage a wider variety of housing types in the city.
A special council meeting was held on Wednesday afternoon for some presentations on housing in St. Albert. Coun. Cathy Heron ran council through the draft Capital Region Board growth plan, which sparked some concerns about the amount of density that will be required in St. Albert.
But it was the presentation and workshop held for council members about possibly increasing the diversity of housing forms allowed in St. Albert that gave some council members pause.
The presentation, led by Stantec staff, ran council both through some illustrative results of St. Albertans who responded to a survey about housing diversity, refreshed council’s memories on the results of two open house events held during the winter and showed examples of a variety of homes, from zero-lot line single family dwellings to stacked townhouses.
The work had been sparked by a housing diversity action plan developed for council and delivered in 2015. The report had identified a number of gaps in housing in St. Albert for certain demographics, like seniors looking to downsize or young families.
One possible way to increase density and affordability and address those gaps could be to allow a bigger variety of housing types in St. Albert.
Asked to complete a workbook in reaction to the presentation and some suggestions on Wednesday, council asked for more time.
“We’re going to answer it without having broad context,” said Mayor Nolan Crouse. His issue with the workbook, a step for the consultants and city staff in developing housing diversity strategies and possibly some land use bylaw amendments, was that the changes could be made in isolation from the bigger picture.
For instance, some people might favour the idea of back lanes, but are they willing to pay more taxes to have those back lanes maintained?
“I need time to think and read,” Crouse said, who also wants council to debate a motion about back alleys. He provided council with a copy of collected research on back alleys and gave notice of motion that would enshrine a policy of no back alleys or lanes to be planned in St. Albert that will be debated at a future meeting.
There are some back alleys in St. Albert but not many. Generally the city has avoided them.
Crouse said he’s not anti-diversity or more density in St. Albert’s housing types, but he wants to know about the impacts on community building. He wants the housing styles available here to encourage the things about St. Albert that so many love, like the sense of community seen in block parties.
Coun. Cam MacKay questioned the need to dramatically change the land-use bylaw, suggesting just some minor tweaks.
“We can’t be all things to all people,” MacKay said.
Coun. Wes Brodhead pointed out the tools suggested by Stantec would only address housing, not the other extra services needed. For instance, there was an illustrative example of a young boy who said his mother could barely afford to rent an apartment in St. Albert, with no spare money to put him in activities like soccer or swimming.
That boy likely couldn’t get into swimming lessons in St. Albert even if there was a less expensive housing option, Brodhead noted. There are already wait lists for swimming.
Coun. Sheena Hughes argued that higher density – something that would be needed under the CRB growth plan – doesn’t guarantee affordability. She worried about changing the feel of already established neighbourhoods by adding density.
“I don’t feel comfortable answering any of it because I will not be boxed into saying yes,” Hughes said.
Coun. Cathy Heron asked for more information, including wanting feedback from the development community about how hard it is to market mixed use neighbourhoods.
Coun. Tim Osborne encouraged his council colleagues to look at some of the different housing forms available in the capital region.
There is a housing gap here, he said. When he was door-knocking during the 2013 election, he heard from many students who were planning to move to Edmonton after graduation because there wasn’t many housing options for them in St. Albert.
“I’m not OK with that,” he said. “To me it is important that we develop a range of affordable options.”
Council could check out the boards from the open houses on housing diversity, he said. There was evidence of support for a variety of housing types.
“I don’t think there’s this groundswell that says single family homes only in St. Albert,” he said.
Council is set to give feedback by May 20.
