Saskatoon city council looks to zoning changes to improve application for federal housing money

A long debate in Saskatoon city hall Thursday ended with council passing motions asking administration to prepare potential changes to zoning bylaws that would help increase density, with the goal of improving the city's chances of receiving federal housing money.

But not all the councillors are on board with how fast the city is moving on the changes.

"This is bigger than any change that I've seen in my 13 years here and for us to do this in a few months — when something like a corridor review, we've been working on for years — I'm struggling with that," Ward 5 Coun. Randy Donauer said just before he voted against most of the recommendations from city administration.

Three of the recommendations direct administration to write zoning bylaw amendments to:

• Allow up to four residential units on a property in a residential zoning district, as long as development standards are met, and sewer and water infrastructure can accommodate them.
• Permit four-storey multiple unit developments within 800 metres of bus rapid transit system corridors.
• Remove parking requirements from designated areas and have the motion be considered by the planning, development and community services committee next month.

For all of those motions, city administration is set to report back to a public hearing in the first or second quarter of 2024.

Both Donauer and Ward 6 Coun. Cynthia Block voted against those recommendations, along with a recommendation to add these amendments to the city's housing action plan.

One motion saying city administration should work with the University of Saskatchewan to increase density and create housing opportunities for students in the College Quarter passed unanimously.

The amendments come a little more than a month after federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser sent a letter to Mayor Charlie Clark asking for changes to improve Saskatoon's application to the Housing Accelerator Fund.

According to Fraser, the fund gives money to towns and cities that commit to reducing red tape and will help lead to the construction of tens of thousands of new homes across Canada.

Fraser has already signed deals with cities like Calgary, Hamilton and Halifax. Some premiers are unhappy and feel Ottawa is overstepping its bounds.

Before the vote, Ward 7 Coun. Mairin Loewen said she doesn't want Saskatoon to miss out on the funding opportunity from Ottawa, given how critical of an issue housing is in the city.

"In an ideal world, we would have an opportunity to make this a more tailored solution to Saskatoon-specific circumstances, but we're not dealing with ideal circumstances and frankly we don't have the strongest bargaining position right now," she said.

Ward 1 Coun. Darren Hill said councillors have discussed increasing density and amending zoning for years, and the federal government speeding up the pace.

"Instead of all the talk that we've been feeding the citizens of Saskatoon, this is actually going to get there," he said.

In a news release, the City of Saskatoon said it will now provide a formal response confirming the amendments to the federal government. 

The amount the city would receive from Ottawa if the application is successful is not set in stone, but the city calculated it would be around $45 million.