Council Approves Housing Text Amendment

On June 25, St. John’s City Council approved a text amendment to the Envision St. John’s Development Regulations that will enable a greater variety of housing types in residential zones. The text amendment will support the City's action plan to stimulate housing growth, which is supported by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).

Consultation for the text amendment took place during May. Feedback was received via email, through the Planning St. John’s webpage and through two public meetings. The comment period resulted in an abundance of feedback that was considered by council prior to making its decision. To see a summary of feedback received, read the decision note presented to council on June 25. You can also view commentary regarding the decision by viewing the video of the Council Meeting.

Changes to Regulations

The new text amendment includes the following changes to the City’s development regulations:

• Remove the Pocket Neighbourhood (PN) Zone and add Pocket Neighbourhood as a Discretionary Use to the Residential 2 (R2), Residential 3 (R3), Residential Downtown (RD), and Residential Mixed (RM) Zones. Set use standards for Pocket Neighbourhoods in each zone.
• Add Triplex as a Permitted Use to the R2 Zone, R3 Zone, RD Zone, RM Zone, Apartment 1 (A1) Zone and Apartment 2 (A2) Zone. Set use standards in each zone.
• Add Four-Plex as a Permitted Use to the R2 Zone, RD Zone, RM Zone and A1 Zone. Add Four-Plex on a Corner Lot as a Permitted Use to the Residential 1 (R1) Zone. Add Four-Plex use standards to each zone. Reduce the minimum frontage and lot area where appropriate.  
• Add Tiny Home Dwelling to R2 Zone and RM Zone and set use standards. 
• Allow Backyard Suites (a dwelling unit in the backyard of a residential lot) in various residential zones. A Backyard Suite will require a minimum of one parking space.
• Allow two Subsidiary Dwelling Units in Single Detached Dwellings, and one Subsidiary Dwelling Unit in Semi-Detached Dwellings or Townhouses.
• Create a new Cluster Development use to allow multiple buildings (Townhouse, Triplex, Four-Plex or Apartment Building) on one lot and set use standards in each zone. Cluster Development will be added to any zones that permit Apartment Building.
• Add Townhouse Cluster as a Use to the R2, R3, RD, RM, A1, A2, AD and AA Zones.
• Move Apartment Building, maximum 6 dwelling units, from a Discretionary Use to a Permitted Use in the R2, R3, RD and RM Zones.
• Add Personal Care Home to the RD Zone and adjust standards throughout zones to reflect similar standards to Apartment Building.
• Increase the maximum building height for:
• Single Detached Dwellings from 8m to 9m
• Semi-detached Dwellings and Four-Plexes from 8m to 10m.
• Apartment Buildings and Persona Care Home from 12m to 14m in the A1 Zone and from 40m to 52m in the Apartment 3 (A3) Zone.
• Set consistent Buildings Lines within Zones.
• Clarify definitions and standards where required throughout the document.

The new amendment will be sent to the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs for registration. Once registered and gazetted, these changes will come into effect.

Clarifications on HAF Action Plan

The City will receive over $10.4 million in federal funding over the next three years to implement its action plan.

Updates to the development regulations is an important component in realizing the City’s HAF Action Plan. Once these changes are registered, the City will be in a better position to implement other elements of its plan, such as incentive and grant programs which are in the process of being developed and will be implemented within the next year.

During consultations for the text amendment, questions were raised about the amount of affordable housing that will be produced as part of this funding. It’s important to understand that the HAF funding focuses on creating conditions that encourage development by businesses or not-for-profit associations. The Housing Accelerator Fund focuses on increasing the supply of “missing middle” housing. These are things like multiunit purpose-built rentals, row housing, and secondary units – forms of housing that are generally smaller, suitable for density, can be more affordable, and represent a gap in our housing stock across the country with the emphasis on single detached development over the past number of decades. While increasing general supply would bring down housing prices and rent across the board, we do need to make sure we are supporting the development of affordable and non-market housing as well. A number of our initiatives, such as plans for City-owned land disposition to community-led projects and work towards legislative changes to allow tax exemptions to mixed-income developments are intended to support the development of affordable supply.

The City will continue to keep you informed as we launch other aspects of our HAF plan. For more information about our action plan, visit our Housing Accelerator Fund webpage.