Oakville town council has given the nod to a $500,000 plan that could bring more affordable housing to Oakville.
Once fully implemented, the plan would use various tools within Ontario’s Planning Act to require or incentivize developers to increase the amount of affordable housing they build.
Details on the tools are outlined in a white paper presented to councillors at their Monday, March 18 meeting.
The paper, written by Sybelle von Kursell, the town’s newly hired Manager of Midtown Oakville Program, was greeted with enthusiasm.
"If we do this, it will be a big deal," said Mayor Rob Burton, who added that he was very interested to see how many powers the town has to change the housing landscape.
He also credited Ward 1 councillor Jonathan McNiece (a professional urban planner) for being "a bit of a sparkplug on this."
McNeice said the challenge of affordable housing demands a comprehensive approach from town decision-makers: "I think we owe it to our community to throw every planning tool at it as possible."
The three main tools under investigation are inclusionary zoning, a community planning permit system and a community improvement plan.
A presentation from von Kursell offered a brief outline of how, and where, the tools might be employed:
Inclusionary Zoning
- New developments with 10 or more units can be required to include a certain percentage of affordable units for a set period of time, with the requirement registered on title.
- Available for use in areas known as “protected major transit station areas”. Only Midtown Oakville (around the Oakville GO station) and the Bronte GO area currently have that designation, but other growth locations might meet the criteria.
Community Planning Permit System
- Allows the town to impose or negotiate specific conditions or criteria for development (ie. provision of affordable housing, design standards, minimum and maximum heights) in exchange for the creation of a streamlined single application and approval process.
- Intended to get housing to market more quickly while supporting local priorities for an area.
- Authority to approve development permits can be delegated to town staff.
- Also known as a development permit system, the town is investigating using the tool in Midtown Oakville, with the opportunity to expand it to other areas.
Community Improvement Plan
- Allows the town to offer loans, grants or land to private developers, to encourage them to build in ways that result in overall community benefit.
- Oakville has had a Brownfield Community Improvement Plan in place since 2018, to encourage the construction of affordable housing on brownfield lands.
- Town staff will move forward with writing a plan to be used to incentivize affordable housing across Oakville.
The $500,000 in approved funding will pay for necessary first steps - including a housing needs assessment - required to implement these tools. About a third of the money will be spent on consultants.
Council has given town staff the authority to "investigate and if deemed appropriate, implement" the three methods of managing development.
According to a proposed work schedule that outlines various required activities, changes could take at least a year, and in some cases, nearly two years to take effect.