Although the housing advisory committee no longer exists, at least one of its final recommendations will be pursued when the time is right.
During its Dec. 9 regular meeting, city council voted 5-1 to have the municipality develop a structure, process and policy that includes community partners in future processes for the planning of housing projects and initiatives.
Coun. Brian Swanson was opposed, while Coun. Chris Warren was absent.
Council also voted 4-2 against adopting a new housing incentive and reserve account policy and amending the tax phase-in policy. Councillors Brian Swanson, Scott McMann, Heather Eby and Dawn Luhning were opposed, while Mayor Fraser Tolmie and Coun. Crystal Froese were in favour.
Motion 1
Housing is an important issue and needs to be dealt with in a timely manner and when it best makes sense to act, said Eby. The time to act on housing initiatives would be when projects come forward or the federal government provides funding. A task force could be put together that would engage with the issue and be a champion for it, versus having a standing committee that is inactive.
Council made the right decision to eliminate the housing advisory committee since it had not met in more than a year, she added. The group did great work in the past and was the brainchild of former mayor Glenn Hagel.
A housing update was provided to city council in 2018 that became aligned with certain policy changes, said Froese. Due to this, council is not simply letting housing initiatives fall to the wayside.
Froese suggested that an annual report be sent to members of the now-defunct housing committee to ensure communications are up-to-date with that group and to solicit feedback.
Motion 2
McMann was concerned about the proposed tax phase-in exemption, pointing out one section of the document talks about a tax phase-in but another section indicates the policy is a 100-per-cent exemption over five years. He was also uncertain about legislation around infill housing.
The phase-in bonus applies to the construction of multi-unit dwellings, explained Michelle Sanson, director of planning and development. For infill housing, a capital grant of $5,000 per unit may be given, to a project maximum of $20,000.
The grant could be applied to any new unit as part of a renovation, she continued. If it’s a commercial building and the owner wants to add a residential unit, the owner could apply for that funding. If it’s in the downtown, the building owner could receive a bonus as well. About five such renovations from commercial to residential occurred in the downtown in the last few years.
In a section under capital grant incentives, McMann pointed out the criteria for accessible housing says five per cent of units must be barrier-free. He thought that was a low number and wondered who made that decision. Sanson indicated that number is part of the national building code regulations.
Other than the infill housing program, attempts by the City of Moose Jaw to provide incentives to homebuilders have not done very well, observed Swanson. He didn’t think the municipality should be involved in providing such incentives, especially with Moose Jaw’s housing prices under pressure, while noting a government has to first take money from someone in order to give it away to others.
The next regular council meeting is Dec. 16.
