Providing this update, as it will have substantial adverse impact on street parking availability (and living affordability) as a result of recommended changes.
Did you know that on SEPTEMBER 14th, city council will be voting on recommendations set out by the Housing Affordability Task Force (link to all recommendations provided below)? Recommendation 1 Item D, E, and F seeks to;
- automatically upzone every single property on in the city of Calgary to RCG, which is rowhomes with basement suites and backyard suites.
- REMOVES ALL ON SITE PARKING REQUIRMENTS for these developments (no garages. parking requirement used to be 1 stall per unit, was voted down to 0.5 stalls per unit within the last year, and will now be 0 stalls per unit), and;
- REMOVES ALL OPPORTUNITY FOR CALGARAINS TO ENGAGE IN DEVELOPMENT APPROVALS
In the city of Calgary, the average # of vehicles per household is two. RCG on a typical single family lot allows up to 12 units (4 main units, 4 basement suites, 4 bacyard suites), this will result in aprox 24 new vehicles being parked on the street, for each new RCG development.
- THERE ARE NO PLANS, BUDGETS, OR RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE TRANSIT in conjunction with removing the requirment for on site parking OR 12x increasing density on each lot.
In addition to the increased pressures on parking as a result of these changes, and the proposed substantial increase to permit parking fees (still to be decided on in December), blanket upzoning has not been shown to actually improve affordability (see reading links at very bottom)
The entire premise of blanket upzoning to higher density RCG is that theoretically these rowhomes are 'more affordable' than the single family homes that would eventually be built in their place (not that they are more affordable than the single family homes that already exist)
The ERRORS with this, is that it does not take into account the fact that the average price of RCG rowhomes in calgary are above the median income of calgarians, and that blanket upzoning only increases housing supply for the wealthy middle class with incomes above what the median income earner in Calgary makes.
- In ADDITION, the development of these RCG rowhome developents use up comparatively affordable lots, thereby decreasing the 'more affordable' housing supply. And uses them up quicker since the rezoning application process will be removed. Many of these homes being torn down for these developments are in excellent shape (of course, some are not).
- Within the last year, council voted to allow RCG developments mid block (Previously just on end lots, and along main corridors). No studies have been conducted on how affordability was impacted. If increased supply truely improves affordability, have unit sale prices decreased? Have rents on these units and elsewhere decreased?
- Removing rezoning application process and community engamgent processes, and parking requirements, only increases profit for developers.
IN SUMMARY, this reccomendation;
- Has no case studies or data from other large cities who have blanket upzoned to show that it improves housing affordability in a city, the opposite has been shown.
- only increases housing supply for wealthy middle class
- are more expensive than the homes/lots that they are being built on
- forces substantially more vehicles to park on the street as parking will not be required on the lot anymore
- no plans from city to improve transit in conjunction with increased density
Other considerations of blanket upzoning to RCG for all lots across YYC
- The recommendations specifically aim to remove all opportunity for Calgarians to engage and provide local context and/or opposition
- Lot coverage for RCG is 60% which will result in more building mass, increased shadow, substantially reduced tree canopy, impacts to watershed and drainage, none of which have been taken into account
- Calgary already has lowest tree canopy coverage of any major city in Canada
Other considerations about this particular recommendation (Item 1 -D,E,F)
- They did not properly INFORM or EDUCATE Calgarians on these sweeping changes to the land use bylaw and zoning before voting on them
- They did not give Calgarians an opportunity to provide engagement;
- No town halls
- No info Sessions
- No billboards or signes posted advertising the potential change
- No email campaigns to let us know
- No mail out communications that they are considering and voting on substantial and dramatic changes to our properties and the lands around them.
More reccomendations were made to improve housing affordability across Calgary which can be found here
Housing affordability and housing supply are major issues as the city continues to grow, but it is important that Calgarians are informed and engaged on substantial changes, and that the changes will result in the intended outcomes. It is also important that density is added responsibly, in a manner that still allows housing choice, is tied to methods that add to off market housing (subsidized or affordable units), and are in line with good urban planning, the cornerstone of which is local context and community engagment, sort of like a Local Area Plans (all LAPs will be voided if this blanket upzoning goes through)
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- Write your councillor
- Find out what ward you live in here; https://www.calgary.ca/council/wardboundarymap.html
- Email your councillor at Ward__@calgary.ca example: ward1@calgary.ca if you live in ward 1
- Cc the mayor at themayor@calgary.ca
- Cc your planning and development committee from your community association (google search the email for each CA)
- Go online and provide comments for public submission (copy and paste of your above email is fine);
- Fill out the form at https://forms.calgary.ca/content/forms/af/public/public/public-submission-to-city-clerks.html
- Information you will need to fill out this form:
- Meeting: Standing Policy Committee on Community Development
- Date: Sept 14, 2023
- Agenda Item: Housing & Affordability Task Force Recommendations
- Be sure to click the button “Opposition”
- Tell your friends and family that council is voting on these changes and ask them to do the above
- Share this info on social media
Additional Reading:
https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/08/16/Calgary-Split-Housing-Affordability-Recommendations/
Overselling densification as a soltion to housing affordability - With Sustainable Calgary