| City council is neglecting an important opportunity to expand affordable housing by not making it easier for secondary suites to be built throughout the entire city, says the head of the Calgary Homeless Foundation.
City council gave first reading to a proposed new land use bylaw this week, which would allow developers to apply to have new communities zoned to accomodate secondary suites. However, the bylaw would not allow secondary suites to be built in existing communities that are zoned single-family residential unless the person wanting to build the secondary suite applied to have the property rezoned. That would require a public hearing and approval from council.
"The difficulty is if you just allow them in new communities this doesn’t do a lot for affordable housing in the city because the new communities are not built where people need affordable housing," says Calgary Homeless Foundation president Wayne Stewart. Stewart says suburbs often have poor or non-existent public transit so it’s difficult for low-income people without a vehicle to get around.
"Our attitude is (secondary suites) should be as universal as possible and that means across the city. It is one of the few quick ways to increase affordable housing and all of those quick ways should be investigated and implemented."
At the public hearing on the proposed new bylaw various members of single family residential communities opposed allowing secondary suites in their neighbourhoods.
Terry Southwood, a resident of Haysboro, asked council not to "ruin" or "spoil" his neighbourhood by adding secondary suites. He said he was concerned about parking, traffic and increased crime caused by the "proliferation" of rental suites in his neighbourhood, including secondary suites.
"A renter by definition doesn’t have a vested interest in their home or their neighbourhood," said Southwood, when asked to explain why he was concerned about increased renters in his community.
Several aldermen expressed support for keeping secondary suites out of existing single family residential communities in order to protect the character of the neighbourhoods.
Stewart says he’s disappointed by negative perceptions of renters that seem to exist. He belives the "deeper subtext" of the conversation around secondary suites is, "’I’m OK. Keep those homeless people away from me.’"
"This is the height of the not in my backyard (NIMBY) crap in my opinion," says Stewart. "We’ve really got to show leadership on this, and if we’re not prepared as a city to care for those in need then there’s something missing in this city. To care for those in need we simply have to increase the stock of housing in whatever way we can. Secondary suites is one possibility."
The United Way spoke out in favour of introducing secondary suites into new communities in order to increase affordable housing. However, Chris MacFarlane, director of the United Way’s Poverty Reduction Initiative, says the organization isn’t pushing for secondary suites in established communities.
"I think that’s a difficult sell," says MacFarlane. "I think men and women that have purchased in established communities are… understandably concerned about that being changed. Our stance is in new communities that would really be a big step in the right direction."
Members of the Calgary Housing Action Initiative argued that there’s a need for secondary suites throughout the city.
The land use bylaw will come back to council in May.
Paul Cochrane, the city’s director of land use planning and policy, says secondary suites have been a very "controversial issue." He says much of the concern is about illegal secondary suites that have cropped up around the city. However, he says an approved secondary suite is very different from an illegal one, because the city is able to plan to mitigate community concerns. |
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