Saskatoon residents uneasy with zoning changes needed for federal funds

Jessica Olver moved from Barrie, Ont. to Saskatoon six years ago because of its affordability and the quality of life it could offer her family.

But a series of overhauling bylaw changes the city is looking at in order to access more than $41 million in federal funding may force her to move somewhere else.

"These new rezoning plans will disrupt neighborhoods and destabilize communities," Olver said at the city's planning, development and community services committee Wednesday.

"They will reduce the number of single-family homes across the city, which will in turn make them more expensive and less attainable for everyone. Newcomers like myself and my new friend from Nigeria won't be attracted here. People like us won't come or will leave the city to perimeter cities like Martensville are Warman or leave the province as a whole, which is the opposite of the goal."

Ottawa's housing accelerator fund is aiming cut redtape and fast tracking thousands of new home builds across the country. In order for Saskatoon to access its share of the funding, changes to how homes are built are required, mainly allowing developers to build multi-unit buildings up to four storeys high within 800 metres of a public transit corridor and allowing fourplexes to be built on any residential lot “as-of-right," or without special permits or appeals.

"Governments everywhere have an abhorrent history of repurposing land without fair consultation from the people living on that land. Let's not repeat past mistakes," Olver said.

The city would also look to end all minimum parking requirements for residential builds as part of the changes.

During previous meetings, city administration noted that while the changes could have a huge impact moving forward, other cities where four units on a single property have been allowed haven't resulted in huge changes to historic neighbourhoods with minimal properties being repurposed for fourplexes.

However, that didn't stop people from voicing their concerns.

"Ensuring a made-in-Saskatoon, not made-in-Ottawa, solution does not negate nor undermine the need for urgent responses," Peggy Schmeiser said.

Others wondered about the impact of densely adding large complexes or fourplexes in a single-family housed neighbourhood will do to existing infrastructure as plumbing and other necessities could suddenly be overrun with more people living on the street than originally intended.

"If you're building in these areas, the population won't be investing everything that they have into this property just to experience sewage flooding in a neighborhood that's current infrastructure can barely handle the current density load," Greystone Heights resident Cary Blatchford said to committee members.

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Blatchford also highlighted how much of the plan hinges on the city's incoming Bus Rapid Transit program and its hope of densifying areas immediately surrounding certain transit lines. She isn't confident in the city's transit operations after numerous reports of violence in recent months.

"This weekend, one of my Greystone Heights neighbors told me that her teenage son witnessed his first shooting of his life. First --like implying that there will be a second," she said.

"Now is not the time for Saskatoon to plan so much change where a major part of that plan hinges on  a dysfunctional, abusive, and traumatizing transportation system."

So far, city council has approved a framework for much of the money be used to incentivize affordable housing construction.

The city believes the changes will add roughly 940 housing units over the next three years. Administration estimates the fund will help build more than 25,200 homes across the city over the next decade.

An information session for residents is being held at the Saskatoon Field House from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday. Council is expected to make a decision on some of the bylaw changes at a public hearing on June 26 with more scheduled at the end of July.