St. Albert city council approved the expenditure of its first instalment of funds from the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), but future instalments could be in jeopardy without amendments to its Land Use Bylaw (LUB) by 2026.
On March 21, St. Albert received $11.8 million through Round 2 of the HAF from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The funding will be administered in four annual instalments, and will enable the city to fund seven HAF initiatives to add an additional 302 housing units. The city has already received the first $2.9 million instalment.
But federal government requirements could mean the city will never see those future instalments.
In a report to council, Lory Scott and Katie Mahoney said the funding agreement doesn't fetter council’s discretion to make future decisions, but the city must meet certain milestones to receive future instalments.
The key minimum requirement is for council to pass amendments to the city's LUB to enable "the development of four units as of right (or similar measure) on traditional lot sizes in all residential neighbourhoods," the report states. There is no matching funding requirement from the city.
Some of the councillors were concerned about the prospect of not receiving the future instalments, especially if they're based around approval of amendments that will be the discretion of a new council following the October municipal election.
Coun. Sheena Hughes said having future funding dependant upon approval of the amendments effectively made the decision for the new council.
"In theory a year from now we could say 'no,' but I also feel like we're really hamstringing people to say 'yes.' Like you're a quarter of the way through the project, and then you're going to pull [the funding]? I feel like it's not really optional once we move forward today," Hughes said. She added she was "hesitantly" voting in favour of the motion.
"I'm not opposed to having fourplexes included as an option, my challenge is just that every time we increase the density we aren't actually increasing the affordability," she said.
Coun. Natalie Joly called the opportunity "exciting."
"Even if we fall short of the next instalment, I think this is an opportunity for council to look at how we can meet some of those targets that are right in our [strategic] plan," Joly said. She acknowledged the concern some of the councillors felt about being required to approve the LUB amendments for fourplexes.
With St. Albert's affordable housing stock at a low vacancy rate -- St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron has previously said that it sits around 1.8 per cent -- Coun. Ken MacKay said that this funding from the CMHC is "great for the community."
Ultimately the consensus was even if St. Albert council doesn't approve the LUB amendments and the funding ceases, the city would still be no further behind than if they were to not approve or sign the agreement. Council unanimously passed the motion to approve the HAF initiatives with the funding of the $11.8 million from the CMHC.
"We should celebrate this, despite the challenges going forward," Coun. Wes Brodhead said.
