To create more homes for newcomers and young families, council is looking at encouraging denser development along Dogwood Street.
At Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting council discussed plans to pre-zone development-friendly sections along Dogwood from Merecroft Road to 9th Avenue, shortening the time for housing developments to be approved and built.
Councilor Doug Chapman says taller buildings would help meet growing demand.
“Not everyone’s going to be able to afford a single detached home, so we should be thinking that condominiums and apartments probably is going to be the first stop for young couples, young families, and then branch out maybe eventually to single detached homes,” he said.
Councilors were generally in favour of encouraging buildings higher than four storeys along Dogwood Street, but agreed they need some expert help to determine what kind of building heights would be realistic, affordable, and appropriate.
City staff are now working on draft zoning for council to review later this summer.
The city has more than $10 million from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund in hand to help build new homes. They are looking at how to build up to 1,200 new units in three years and will be consulting with local development companies for advice.
The money is from the federal government’s “Housing Accelerator Fund,” intended to remove barriers to residential development. One of the conditions of the funding is that it should increase multi-family housing near public transit by at least 282 units, potentially up to 1,200, in the next three years.
City staff are recommending pre-zoning sections of property along Dogwood Street from Merecroft Road to 9th Avenue to encourage mixed-use development, such as buildings with apartments above ground-level businesses. They are calling it the “Dogwood Corridor” and recommend a new special zone to encourage medium to high density multi-family development.
