The City of Nanaimo will examine a new zoning approach aimed at reducing barriers to social housing development.
The city’s governance and priorities committee heard a presentation from staff on Jan. 26 outlining a proposed zoning “overlay” for certain properties.
“Overall the intent is that a developer can still develop, or a property owner can still develop under the underlying zoning, however they can voluntarily take the option to develop under the overlay zone where the applicant would be permitted to increase in density and/or height in exchange for providing social housing units,” said Kasia Biegun, a planner with community development.
She told the committee the project aims to make it easier to secure provincial and federal funding for social housing by having parcels pre-zoned and ready for development.
If council approves the committee’s recommendation, developers would be required to ensure at least 20 per cent of units in a housing development are social housing to qualify for the overlay zoning.
Those units would need to be operated by a government agency, non-profit organization or housing co-operative, and capital costs would need to be fully funded by any level of government.
Coun. Ben Geselbracht questioned the funding requirement, pointing to the potential for other funding sources. He asked whether staff had considered defining social housing more broadly and allowing alternative funding models.
Biegun said the criteria were based on similar policies in other jurisdictions and staff hope market developers will partner with non-profit housing providers.
She said 2,022 parcels in the city’s urban centres and corridors would be subject to the overlay zoning. Expanding the policy citywide would add complexity, she said, and staff view the proposal as a pilot project.
The committee voted to begin public engagement on the proposal and directed staff to prepare bylaw amendments. The motion will be forwarded to council for consideration.
