Instead of having non-profits or charities make presentations and jump through a number of hoops just to see if council is willing to waive fees on a case-by-case basis, non-profits and charities will now have certainty about municipal costs before proposing or moving forward with an affordable housing project. Photo Credit: City of St. Catharines.
St. Catharines has unveiled a new plan to try to stimulate the construction of new affordable housing projects.
In the past, if charities or non-profits were building new affordable housing units, they had to ask city council to waive development fees on the specific individual project.
Council’s new approach would see all affordable housing built by charities and non-profits enjoy an exemption from St. Catharines’ municipal development fees.
The type of housing that would receive this exemption includes rentals, co-operative housing arrangements and shelters that provide no-cost accommodations.
Planning and Building Services Director Tami Kitay told council that this was the most effective means of allowing St. Catharines to promote the construction of more affordable housing.
“Through consultation with affordable housing providers, staff received feedback that waiving municipal fees removed financial barriers from providing affordable housing and greatly assisted with government grants and lender financing.”
Kitay was tasked with investigating the idea of waiving development fees last summer. She reported back to council earlier this month.
St. Catharines’ new plan will significantly reduce problems related to bureaucracy. Instead of having non-profits or charities make presentations and jump through a number of hoops just to see if council is willing to waive fees on a case-by-case basis, non-profits and charities will now have certainty about municipal costs before proposing or moving forward with an affordable housing project.
In the past, an individual councillor would have to move a motion to waive development fees on an individual project and council would have to debate that motion.
The funds to offset waiving the development fees will come from the city’s affordable housing reserve fund, with a contribution from federal housing accelerator funds as well.
Council has stipulated that only projects with 11 housing units or more will qualify for the exemption. Every unit in a proposed building does not have to be non-ownership in order to receive the waiver: at least 30 per cent of all units must meet that standard. This will likely lead to mixed housing.
Councillor Bruce Williamson expressed concern that affordable housing projects with fewer than 11 units would not qualify for a city fee waiver.
Kitay told Williamson that projects with few than 11 units are quite rare. She also noted that the approval process is somewhat different for projects with 10 or fewer units and that the tools are not presently in place for city staff to treat those kinds of affordable housing projects the same way the city would treat larger-scale projects.
Council voted unanimously to adopt the new policy.
Over the past two years the Ford government at Queen’s Park has also been focusing on cutting development fees for affordable housing, such as fully eliminating development charges on inclusionary zoning projects.
There has been some conflict between the Ford government and municipalities regarding concerns municipal politicians have about the sustainability of municipal finances without the revenue brought in from development charges.
Affordable housing has become a concern for all three levels of government, with Canada facing a housing shortage and the cost of rent soaring across the country. St. Catharines’ change in affordable housing development charges is part of a move to try to address that issue.
Jay Goldberg is the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He previously served as a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
