MOOSE JAW — City council has acknowledged that it failed to adequately communicate proposed zoning bylaw changes to residents and wants city hall to have more public consultations before it changes the policy.
Administration presented a zoning bylaw amendment during the April 28 regular council meeting to allow fourplexes in certain districts as a permitted use, subject to minimum lot size, parking and other applicable regulations.
Allowing these fourplexes to be built was necessary for the city to qualify for federal funding through the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF). City hall has submitted several applications and is particularly hopeful that CHIF will provide $26.5 million to support the $65-million Crescent View Lift Station (CVLS) replacement project.
Several property owners spoke against the bylaw changes during the meeting, with some saying city hall poorly informed the community about why these changes were required. One person even suggested that council should pause these changes until public consultations were held.
The Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com will feature comments from those speakers in a separate article.
Council later voted 4-1 to table the matter to its May 12 meeting so administration could complete community engagement activities.
Coun. Heather Eby was opposed, while councillors Chris Warren, Carla Delaurier, Patrick Boyle and Dawn Luhning were in favour; Mayor James Murdock and Coun. Jamey Logan were absent.
The CVLS “is absolutely critical” since the wastewater from every household — from toilets, washing machines and sinks — flows to that 58-year-old venue, said Eby. That is why acquiring $26 million from another government is important, since residents use the CVLS whether or not they realize it.
“If we saw one fourplex in a year, I think that would be surprising. I cannot foresee us having more than that … ,” she continued.
Eby said she was “not super comfortable” delaying the passage of the bylaw since that might jeopardize the city’s funding applications. She noted that residents could return to council even angrier next year if they were forced to pay the extra $27 million for the CVLS project.
The councillor added that she was disappointed with city hall’s public communications and the letter it sent out.
Boyle — who regularly castigates the federal government — said this zoning change requirement is “a complete overreach” and “intrusion” into what happens in Moose Jaw. He pointed out that Ottawa has no dedicated infrastructure funding stream — even though it takes 42 cents of every tax dollar — and instead hides infrastructure money inside a housing initiative, leaving municipalities without any options but to comply.
Furthermore, Boyle said the Liberals promised to create a standalone agency that will spend $12 billion over the next four years to build homes across the country. This made him wonder why Ottawa would then “hamstring” municipalities and force them to jump through more hoops.
Boyle also agreed that the city “dropped the ball completely” with how it communicated this issue to residents.
She also pointed out that if the city’s CHIF applications fail — for the CVLS and the $22-million Thunderbird Viaduct replacement — then taxpayers will be completely responsible for funding both of them.
Meanwhile, Luhning noted that the federal government imposed the caveat on municipalities that if they want infrastructure funding, they must change their zoning bylaws to allow fourplexes as a “right-of-way.” This “irked” her since it implied that Ottawa knew what was best for Moose Jaw.
“… That is the conundrum we are in,” she remarked.
Luhning added that other cities like Regina and Saskatoon recently approved similar bylaw changes, much “to the dismay” of those communities.
Warren said housing is important here since there is a shortage of roughly 1,000 units and the municipality needs to “close that gap.” Also, based on a housing needs assessment, more “safe and affordable” housing options — not just rentals but ownership choices — are required for young adults, single adults, young families and seniors looking to downsize.
Meanwhile, development standards to build in Moose Jaw “ensure we are not plunking a giant (housing) unit into the middle of a neighbourhood that significantly (changes) the appeal of that neighbourhood,” he added.
City administration concurred with Warren’s comment, saying it is not changing any development standards and developers must meet all requirements before they can build.
Meanwhile, administration said the current CVLS becomes overwhelmed during one-in-five-year rainstorms, while modelling shows that the system would be “hard-pressed” to handle future developments — residential or commercial — without significant upgrades.
The next regular city council meeting is Monday, May 12.
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