Latest news with #HomeisHere
Calgary Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Calgary still 42,000 housing units short of what's needed: chief housing officer
Article content 'We've laid a foundation of sound planning principles over the last decade-plus that, when coupled with the Home is Here strategy, has resulted in Calgary being Canada's housing engine,' Hendry said. Article content One of the most noteworthy achievements, he argued, was the city's approval last year of 893 below-market housing development permit approvals. But while that represents an 850 per cent year-over-year growth from 2023, he noted it still falls well short of the city's 3,000-unit target. Article content Another area the strategy has fallen short is closing Calgary's housing supply gap. Hendry showed a graph highlighting that, despite the ongoing housing boom, the city is on track to have a shortage of roughly 42,000 housing units by the end of this year. Article content Article content Although the strategy has fallen short of some targets in its first year and a half, the plan is nevertheless working and the city needs to 'stay the course,' according to Hendry. He encouraged committee members to consider the housing gap whenever housing-related initiatives and projects come before council. Article content Article content As for the strategy's next steps, Hendry hinted at a 'by Indigenous, for Indigenous' housing program called Maa'too'maa'taapii Aoko'iyii'piaya, which aims to meet the housing needs of Calgary's First Nation communities. Article content While the committee accepted Hendry's update for the corporate record, the item still saw dozens of public presenters, mostly representatives from housing and below-market housing organizations, who spoke to the strategy's merits and shortcomings. Article content Michelle James, policy director with Vibrant Communities Calgary — the non-profit organization that oversees the city's poverty reduction strategy — told the committee the charity strongly supports Home is Here, but urged council to put more focus on non-market housing. Article content Vibrant Communities Calgary estimates there are 40,000 households in Calgary that are exhausting all avenues to retain their housing, such as using resources like food banks or other charities, James said. There are also more than 3,000 unhoused Calgarians and more than 7,000 households on Calgary Housing's affordable housing waitlist.
Calgary Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Council supports exempting row houses from development permit applications in new communities
Claiming it will cut down on red tape and development costs, Calgary city council unanimously supported a bylaw amendment Tuesday to exempt row houses from requiring a development permit in new communities. Article content In a 12-0 vote, council agreed to amend the city's land-use bylaw to enable the exemption. Article content Article content 'This has been a long time coming and members of industry have told us for quite some time that it would be much better if we didn't have to do DPs on row houses,' said Mayor Jyoti Gondek. 'There was obviously a reason and rationale from administration, (but) I'm glad we could sort this out.' Article content Article content The development permit stage is when city staff review a proposed development's urban planning, utility and transportation-related considerations. The development permit typically precedes the building permit. Article content Article content The city claims the exemption approved Tuesday will reduce timelines for row house applications in new neighbourhoods by approximately three months, and will streamline the planning process to create more housing. Article content Currently, low-density residential development is considered a permitted use in greenfield communities, according to the city, meaning proposed developments that align with the bylaw must be approved. Article content While row houses are also classified as a permitted use in developing communities, they have, up until now, required a development permit. Article content Article content 'I think in all the ways we can move quicker with housing, (this exemption) is very important,' Ward 11 Coun. Kourtney Penner said before the vote. 'But it isn't lost on me that while we're making it easier to build row housing in new communities, we're still very much lagging in established communities. Article content 'But I think this is great. It'll lead the way and there are many things we can actually learn from the work we're doing in new and growing communities and apply those to established neighbourhoods in order to approve housing faster.' Article content Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer pitched the exemption when council approved its housing strategy — Home is Here — in September 2023. He credited the idea to Gondek's deputy chief of staff, Amie Blanchette. Article content Another aspect of the city's housing strategy was to change Calgary's default zoning district to R-CG in older communities. That change allowed for row houses and other semi-detached housing types, such as duplexes and fourplexes, to be built without first requiring a land-use redesignation. However, those redevelopments still require a development permit before the project moves to the building permit stage.
Calgary Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Council supports exempting rowhouses from development permit applications in new communities
Claiming it will cut down on red tape and development costs, Calgary city council unanimously supported a bylaw amendment Tuesday to exempt rowhouses from requiring a development permit in new communities. Article content In a 12-0 vote, council agreed to amend the city's land use bylaw to enable the exemption. Article content Article content 'This has been a long time coming and members of industry have told us for quite some time that it would be much better if we didn't have to do DPs on rowhouses,' said Mayor Jyoti Gondek. 'There was obviously a reason and rationale from administration, (but) I'm glad we could sort this out.' Article content Article content The development permit stage is when city staff review a proposed development's urban planning, utility and transportation-related considerations. The development permit typically precedes the building permit. Article content Article content The city claims the exemption approved Tuesday will reduce timelines for rowhouse applications in new neighbourhoods by approximately three months and will streamline the planning process to create more housing. Article content Currently, low-density residential development is considered a permitted use in greenfield communities, according to the city, meaning proposed developments that align with the bylaw must be approved. Article content Single-family and semi-detached homes do not require a development permit in new areas, but do require a building permit. Article content While rowhouses are also classified as a permitted use in developing communities, they have, up until now, required a development permit. Article content Article content 'I think in all the ways we can move quicker with housing, (this exemption) is very important,' said Ward 11 Coun. Kourtney Penner, just before the vote. 'But it isn't lost on me that while we're making it easier to build rowhousing in new communities, we're still very much lagging in established communities. Article content 'But I think this is great. It'll lead the way and there are many things we can actually learn from the work we're doing in new and growing communities and apply those to established neighbourhoods in order to approve housing faster.' Article content Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer pitched the exemption when council approved its housing strategy — Home is Here — in September 2023. He credited the idea to Gondek's deputy chief of staff, Amie Blanchette. Article content Another aspect of the city's housing strategy was to change Calgary's default zoning district to R-CG in older communities. That change allowed for rowhouses and other semi-detached housing types, such as duplexes and fourplexes, to be built without first requiring a land use redesignation. However, those redevelopments still require a development permit before the project moves to the building permit stage.
