MAYOR’S HOUSING SUMMIT

City of Regina Comprehensive Housing Strategy

13 May 2013

Outline• Why a Housing Strategy? • Process – Housing Strategy Development• Issues and Goals

• City’s Role in Housing• Summary of Consultant’s Report and

Administration’s Recommendations • Key Strategies for Innovation and Partnerships• Process and Next Steps• Questions

Need for a Strategy

• Changing population growth, housing market trends and conditions, and a changing policy landscape

• Strategy to better align programs and assets

• Strategy to determine where and how to stimulate the housing market

• Allows the City to better coordinate with the policies and programs of the Province

• Housing strategies align with the City’s Official Community Plan and regional plan initiatives:

• Official Community Plan (OCP) - Housing diversity and affordability one of the eight community priorities

• Regional planning - long-term economic, physical and demographic growth and sustainability of our region

Need for a Strategy

Process – Housing Strategy Development

• Background: Consultant studied the housing needs and issues along the full continuum of housing, from homelessness to homeownership, through 5 phases of work:• Phase 1: Background Review• Phase 2: Issue Identification• Phase 3: Policy, Incentive and Strategy Development• Phase 4: Evaluation of Alternatives• Phase 5: Comprehensive Housing Strategy (CHS)

Collaboration: Input from representatives from all aspects of housing continuum (19 members of the Stakeholder Consultation Group) as well as a broader group of interested and informed parties:

• 19 key stakeholders representing the industry

• Nearly 50 key informants

Process – Housing Strategy Development

Summary of Comprehensive Housing Strategy – Key Issues

• Supply of rental and affordable housing• Condition of existing housing stock• Diversity of housing options, including housing for

distinct and special needs groups• Access to services and amenities needed to create

complete communities and sustainable neighbourhoods

• Immediate action is required, but the City cannot address the issues on its own

Summary of Comprehensive Housing Strategy – Goals

• Increase the supply of rental and affordable housing

• Retain and regenerate existing housing stock

• Increase the diversity of housing options, including housing for distinct and special needs groups

• Address housing needs while creating complete communities and sustainable neighbourhoods

• Implementation and working together

City’s Role in Housing

• The CHS defines the City’s role in housing:

• Land use planning

• Health and safety – bylaws and enforcement

• Facilitate, support, create and participate in partnerships

City’s Role in Housing

• The City DOES NOT:

• Build housing of any type

• Manage housing of any type

• Regulate the activity of landlords or rental owners (other than property maintenance)

Summary of Comprehensive Housing Strategy

• 36 Strategies are grouped into:

• Program/Financial (6)• Regulatory (16)• Education (4)• Advocacy (3) and • Implementation (7)

• Administration working on an implementation plan for 29 strategies, further consideration of 6 strategies and removing one strategy

Summary of Comprehensive Housing Strategy

PROGRAM/FINANCIAL (6 strategies)

• Targeted incentives. City’s Housing Incentives Policy

• Land owner. Sale of city-owned lands

• 2006-2012 Housing Contributions:Total Value = $6,957,565 Total Units = 1,606 new units

Capital Grants = $2,286,651 = 283 new unitsLand Contributions = $1,001,350 = 27 new units Tax Incentives = $3,669,564 = 1,296 new units

Summary of Comprehensive Housing Strategy

• REGULATION and POLICY (16 strategies)• Land use planning• Renewal of existing housing stock

• ADVOCACY and EDUCATION (7 strategies)• Facilitate and support, create and participate in

partnerships

Review of Key Strategies

• Innovation Strategies:

• Strategy 15: Foster the creation of temporary rental housing, rooming houses and single room occupancies

• Strategy 25: Develop and promote prototypes and pilot initiatives of innovative housing forms

• Strategy 30: Support the redevelopment of brownfields, greyfields and bluefields for affordable housing development

Seven of the 36 strategies involve regional, provincialand federal partnerships. They include strategies to:

• Work with federal and provincial governments on additional support for:- Rental, affordable and special needs housing, and; - Repair and regeneration of existing housing stock

(Strategies 1, 9, 11, 12)

• Work with regional partners to encourage major new development/investments to prepare a housing plan to accommodate new workers (Strategy 7)

Partnership Strategies:

• Work with partners on homelessness to:

- Play a lead role in the federal government’sHomelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) (Strategy 28)

- Establish and coordinate a housing and homelessness coalition of community stakeholders (Strategy 35)

- Community Investment Grants

• Support an outreach initiative to demonstrate the benefits and opportunities of increased density and diversity (Strategy 26)

Partnership Strategies (continued):

• Regina has accelerated its new Official Community Plan to identify areas for growth

• Housing diversity and affordability was identified as one of the eight community priorities in the OCP

• Strategy 19: Encourage the creation of accessible housing (through Official Community Plan policies)

• Strategy 20: (In the Official Community Plan) support housing for persons with special needs, through a range of housing types, in all residential land use designations

OCP and Housing Strategies:

• The OCP will allow Regina to retain and attract new jobs, create new housing opportunities and manage the costs of services

• Strategy 17: Establish policies in the Official Community Plan that specify housing targets by type/density, tenure, and affordability; an intensification target; and a rental housing vacancy rate target

• Strategy 24: Define an adequate land supply in the Official Community Plan

OCP Housing Strategies (continued):

• Public input on CHS gathered via:• Designregina.ca• April 18th public event

• Public input shared with Council on April 29 with review of Housing Strategy and Administration’s Recommendations

• Mayor’s Housing Summit: Supply, Innovation and Partnerships

• Implementation Plan brought to Council June 10th

Process and Next Steps

Questions and Feedback

Context and Next Steps• Official Community Plan:

• Stakeholder and public consultation in June• Final draft to Executive Committee in July and Council

in August

• Regional planning• Regional planning summit in fall 2013 • Regional water/wastewater study – completed Q1 2014

• Housing policies developed for the OCP will align with the Comprehensive Housing Strategy (CHS) and other initiatives and planning goals

• The OCP will help build on the City’s legacy of attracting quality investment and sustainable regional economic development.

• The OCP will allow Regina to retain and attract new jobs, create new housing opportunities and manage the costs of services

Housing Strategy in Context – OCP

Regional Economic Growth Opportunities

A. Strong Regional Partnerships• White Butte Regional Planning Committee• Moose Jaw-Regina Corridor Committee• RM of Sherwood

B. Regional Economic Growth and Sustainability• Design Regina OCP• White Paper• Regional Planning Summit

C. Opportunities for Regional Infrastructure and Servicing• Regina and Region Water and Wastewater Study

Housing Strategy in Context - OCP

• Regina has accelerated its new Official Community Plan to identify existing areas for growth, to evaluate future servicing and to calculate land needs for additional growth

• The OCP is the blueprint for planning for the future:• Phasing growth to a population of 300,000• Planning for growth to a population of 500,000

• Housing diversity and affordability was identified as one of the eight community priorities in the OCP

Program and Financial Strategies (6)1. Refine current property tax and capital incentives to target the issue of insufficient supply of rental and affordable

housing

2. Leverage the City’s land assets to increase the supply of rental, affordable and special needs housing, promote the diversity of housing, and support the creation of complete neighbourhoods

3. Foster the creation of secondary suites

14. Consider developing a Regina rental housing repair initiative that involves a revolving fund to provide loans for affordable rental housing repair, and exemptions on incremental taxes due to the repairs/improvements (Requires further consideration by Administration)

15. Foster the creation of temporary rental housing and rooming houses/ single room occupancies

27. Continue to support housing and homelessness initiatives through the Community Investment Grants Program and identify ways to allocate funding for maximum community impact

Education Strategies (4)11. Promote and assist landlords and others in accessing existing Provincial housing repair funding

25. Develop and promote prototypes and pilot initiatives of innovative housing forms

26. Support a community outreach initiative to demonstrate the benefits and opportunities of increased density and diversity

33. Prepare educational materials and engage in educational outreach about the full range of housing and related funding programs available in Regina

Regulatory Strategies (first 8 of 16)

4. Establish an interim innovative affordable housing rezoning policy that allows for consideration of rezoning applications immediately in specific existing residential or mixed use areas (Requires further consideration by Administration)

5. Develop policies to support the use of alternative development standards

6. Implement a policy and process to fast-track affordable housing and special needs housing developments through the planning approval process

7. Work with the Regina Regional Opportunities Commission to encourage major new developments/ investments to prepare a housing plan

8. Permit density bonusing and transfer of development rights with an aim of increasing the supply of affordable and special needs housing (Requires further consideration by Administration)

13. Develop a strategy for improving compliance with safety and property maintenance standards

16. Facilitate the creation of additional apartment units through changes to the Zoning Bylaw

17. Establish policies in the Official Community Plan that specify housing targets by type/density, tenure, and affordability; an intensification target; and a rental housing vacancy rate target (Requires further consideration by Administration)

Regulatory Strategies (last 8 of 16)

18. Add a policy to the Official Community Plan that neighbourhood level plans identify target percentages for different housing types and forms within the neighbourhood (Administration has deemed this strategy unfeasible)

19. Encourage the creation of accessible housing through Official Community Plan policy changes

20. In the Official Community Plan permit housing for persons with special needs, through a range of housing types, in all residential land use designations (Requires further consideration by Administration)

21. Add a policy to the Official Community Plan to consult and work with Aboriginal groups to develop affordable housing

22. Add a policy to the Official Community Plan to discourage down zoning to help contribute to an increased diversity of housing options

23. Define attainable and affordable housing in the Official Community Plan

24. Define an adequate land supply in the Official Community Plan

29.Strengthen Official Community Plan policies related to encouraging a mix of land uses, walkable neighbourhoods, and access to public transportation

Advocacy Strategies (3)

9. Advocate to Federal and Provincial governments for additional support for rental and affordable housing

12. Advocate to the Federal and Provincial governments for additional support for the retention and regeneration of the existing housing stock

30. Support the redevelopment of brownfields, greyfields and bluefields for affordable housing developmentImplementation Strategies (7)10. Monitor changes to the existing rental housing stock

28. Continue to play a lead role in the Federal government’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy by preparing the Community Plan to Address Homelessness

31. Prepare an implementation plan for the Comprehensive Housing Strategy and annual reports to monitor achievements and outline annual work plans

32. Consolidate the City’s housing functions, build the capacity of staff related to housing, and dedicate staff time to housing facilitation (Requires further consideration by Administration)

34. Update data in the CHS when the full 2011 Statistics Canada Census data is released, and adjust strategies as required

35. Play a lead facilitation role in establishing and coordinating a housing and homelessness coalition of community stakeholders as a way of coordinating collaboration, engaging stakeholders, and obtaining advice

36. Over time update long-range planning documents to be consistent with the Comprehensive Housing Strategy

Key termsAlternative Development Standards (ADS) - put in place by a municipality to guide planning, design and construction of development – either in an area/neighbourhood, or on a specific subdivision, parcel or property. Can be used to determine the size of lots, parking requirements, location of buildings or utilities as well as development and building standards.

ADS allow a City to create unique or specific guidelines above and beyond Zoning codes to more creatively or proactively shape future development. They can also be used to establish density targets or housing diversity thus supporting the development of affordable housing. Alternative Development Standards can also be used for pilot projects to test new development criteria. See Strategy 25.

Key termsDensity bonusing - allows developers to add more floor area or additional density not permitted by zoning in exchange for advantages such as affordable housing (e.g. if affordable housing is built, extra floor area may be possible). This will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Transfer of development rights - allows a developer to buy the development rights of an existing, neighbouring property (e.g. a single-storey building on a lot that would allow for higher density were it to be rebuilt). This allows for addition residential density on some lots but retains the community character and existing building stock of neighbourhoods – and also balances out a neighbourhood so that is it not all high density buildings. As with density bonusing this tool would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Key termsRooming house (consultant definition) - A building in which renters occupy single rooms and share kitchens, bathrooms and common areas.

Rooming housing (City Zoning) – As per the Zoning Bylaw No. 9250, a rooming houses is defined as a building that is the primary residence of the owner and in which rooming units are provided by the owner, for permanent occupancy and compensation, to persons not related by blood, marriage or adoption to the owner.

Single Room Occupancy (SRO) - a multiple-tenant building that houses one or two people in single room dwellings. Depending on the design, each dwelling unit may include a kitchenettes, bathrooms or half-baths, or bathrooms and/or kitchens may be shared by several tenants. SROs are primarily rented as a temporary residence.

Key termsDensity (or Housing Density) – The number of housing units per unit of land.

Secondary suite – As per the Zoning Bylaw No. 9250, a secondary suite is a subordinate, self-contained dwelling unit within a detached dwelling.

Laneway housing - is a form of housing where dwelling units are built on pre-existing lots, usually in the backyard and opening onto the back lane, but detached from the existing main house on the same lot.