Secondary suites will remain a rarity in Calgary after city council refused to include them in its new land use bylaw.
Council could have allowed secondary suites to be built throughout the city under the new bylaw, which received final approval on July 23. However, a majority of council members do not want to see secondary suites in single-family residential neighbourhoods. Secondary suites are living quarters with separate cooking facilities.
Under the new land use bylaw, developers can apply to have new communities zoned to allow secondary suites. However, secondary suites will not be allowed in established neighbourhoods unless the person who wants to build the secondary suite applies for rezoning. Council would then hold a public hearing and vote on the rezoning, which is often an arduous process.
The Calgary Homeless Foundation and the Calgary Housing Action Initiative (CHAI), as well as student organizations, have all asked the city to expand secondary suites throughout the city in order to increase the city’s supply of affordable housing and help address the growing housing crisis.
“The single biggest word on this is ‘frustration,’” says Grant Neufeld, a CHAI member. “(City council) certainly have the opportunity to take some leadership and address the needs of our community, but instead are listening to fairly narrow segments of the people in this city who are saying ‘don’t do that in our neighbourhood’ — the NIMBYism. It’s a real failure to look at what does this city actually need to survive because, frankly, with the exploding population we have here we have to change how we operate as a city.”
Aldermen opposed to an expansion of secondary suites cite concerns over increased parking, traffic and loud parties.