Record-setting turnout for Saskatoon council’s Housing Accelerator Fund discussion

Saskatoon city council chambers were full Thursday as residents came to speak on the Housing Accelerator Fund at the special public hearing meeting.

“This is a record, as far as we’re aware, for number of speakers,” Mayor Charlie Clark said, noting there were 59 people on the list to speak.

Lesley Anderson, director of planning and development with the city of Saskatoon, said some areas of the city are seeing less than a one-per cent vacancy rate for rentals in the city, adding that a three per cent vacancy rate is considered balanced.

“Rent costs have increased nine per cent from October 2022 to October 2023, with the average two-bedroom rental being over $1,300,” Anderson said.

The government of Canada has offered funding to help cities fast-track housing, and is partnering with Saskatoon to help develop 940 housing units over the next three years.

Through the Housing Accelerator Fund, $41.3 million is going toward this initiative, with housing development being sped up in areas near transit and the downtown sector.

At the beginning of May, city administration proposed that $35 million of the fund be allocated to incentive programs that will support affordable housing, multiple-unit dwellings in priority growth areas, and housing development on city-owned land.

The city also held public information sessions at the beginning of June, saying it was an opportunity for residents to ask questions and for the city to offer information on:

• permitting up to four dwelling units on all residential sites
• permitting multiple-unit residential development within 800 metres of the bus rapid transit stations
• streamlining approvals for residential care homes
• removing minimum parking requirements city wide

Anderson said affordable housing is seeing increased demand and providers are being priced out of the market.

She said the amendments brought forward to council will ensure that Saskatoon has a variety of housing options for the future.

Anderson said through community feedback they’ve seen both support and opposition to condensing housing in the city.

Jeff Jorgenson, city manager, noted that the federal government is saying that if cities want to continue to access some federal funding for public transit, those cities will need to implement conditions similar to what is required in the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).

“While we are waiting for additional details on the specific conditions and allocations of the permanent transit fund, it is becoming clear that funding under this program will be contingent on implementing HAF-like conditions,” Jorgenson said, adding that this was just one example.

“All federal programs, it seems to be if they’re related to infrastructure, they’re going to be tied to housing.”

The email you need for the day's top news stories from Canada and around the world.

Jorgenson noted that what was on the table was the least impactful zoning agreement that they could come to with the feds.

“There is no room to further negotiate.”

Proposed land-use amendments are being separated into six bylaws, which city administration says is required to allow the zoning bylaw amendments that will allow four- and six-storey development in the city.

These developments are aimed at areas along the city’s bus rapid transit routes and reach into areas like 22nd Street West, Woodlawn, College Drive, Nutana, 8th Street and Preston.

Many speakers took to the podium, one of which was Sherry Olson who addressed homeowners who were worried about losing their privacy if increased housing density is brought in to their neighbourhood.

“Like the one I’m living in. I’m on the third floor. Suddenly I’m the snoopy, unsightly neighbour who goes to the bathroom too much instead of a productive taxpayer,” Olson said.

She said she worried that poor residents might not only lose their privacy, but also their dignity in their search for homes.

Olson also addressed worries about neighbourhood character and asked whether having people living on the street was a better option.

Robert Lafontaine with the Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership said the homelessness situation in Saskatoon is exacerbated by high rent and low vacancy in the city.

“We have systems like coordinated access and we have different types of homelessness programs… what we don’t have is enough housing stock to place people into these systems,” Lafontaine said.

Angela Bishop with the Camponi Housing Corporation and SaskNative Rentals said safe and affordable housing was critical to her when she was 18 and had two kids.

“There wasn’t much chance or hope for someone like me to find safe, affordable housing. After all, who would rent to an Indigenous teen parent?” Bishop said.

She said Camponi Housing Corporation allowed her to have a safe, affordable home while she went to school and took care of her kids, and wondered where she would be had she not had that support.

She said her organization offers affordable housing, but the demand is growing.

“In 2017 we had 93 families on our waiting list. Today we have over 592.”

Lenore Swystun with the Saskatoon Heritage Society said she was worried about the swiftness of these upcoming changes and wondered if there was any room to further nuance some of these proposed changes.

“We’re hearing today ‘no’, we’re suggesting can we try,” Swystun said.

She said the society would like to be a part of these conversations for adaptive re-use of heritage buildings.

John Bragg, a local resident, said there is are examples of mid century modern architecture in his neighbourhood that are worth protecting, saying it has a continuity of style.

He said him and his neighbours don’t want to see that continuity disrupted by fourplexes and four storey structures.

“The proposed rezoning with destroy a big part of the history of our city,” Bragg said.

He said kids play hockey in the street of his neighbourhood and wouldn’t be able to once no-off-street-parking requirements come into play.

Doug Richardson said he was quite mad and that this issue was dividing the city in a way he hasn’t seen before.

“And what frustrates me is that I feel there’s capacity for compromise,” Richardson said.

Richardson said he’s spoken with federal government staff who have assured him that the federal initiative was not designed to densify or disrupt historic neighbourhoods.

He claimed that the suggestion from the city that they might lose federal infrastructure funding without these proposed changes was false.

Richardson said other cities in the country have found ways around these federal requirements with proper negotiation.

Clark asked if Richardson had any documentation to show from his conversations with the feds, saying the documentation that city administration had from the feds outlined something different from what Richardson claimed.

Richardson said he only had his verbal conversations.

“I believe what you are also indicating is that somehow what I have presented to the public is inaccurate, and so my goal is just to make sure we have as accurate a record as possible,” Clark said.

Brenda Zeman urged the city to turn down these recommendations, saying these were major changes.

She said many residents are not aware of HAF.

“I don’t like the blanket or one-size-fits-all approach to HAF. We need local solutions,” Zeman said.

She suggested that some neighbourhoods be designated as heritage neighbourhoods.

Nicole Burgess with the Saskatoon and Region Home Builders Association said they fully supported HAF measures.

She said the changes on the table are transformative for Saskatoon.

“They are meant to be transformative. But regardless of any obligation you have under this fund, I would also argue these changes are very necessary and urgently needed for the smart and efficient growth of our city,” Burgess said.

She said Saskatoon can’t continue with the status quo and that the city is at a tipping point.

Burgess said Saskatoon grew by 14,000 people last year and is on track to do that again, but said no new housing starts have begun.

She said rental vacancy and housing supply is at a critical rate and that prices continue to skyrocket.

“Something does need to change, and what is being proposed today is the type of change we need.”

She said if council votes no on these changes, they are turning down urgently needed housing and intentionally turning down hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.

Burgess addressed concerns around density, saying that not as much change is coming than some people might think, using the example of fourplexes.

“It is important to acknowledge that three units are already permitted on a 25-foot lot.”

She said through subdivision, it is already permitted for an owner of a 50-foot lot to get six units on that property.

Burgess said these changes won’t do much besides cut some of the red tape and allow for more variety of buildings.

She addressed the four-storey buildings, saying these were already planned for the corridor areas and was going to happen eventually.

Burgess also said it’s far too costly for builders to tear down housing that’s already in use and that it’s unlikely that developers will tear down good housing for larger projects.

The discussion at council continues, with the potential of it spilling into Friday as well.