Major changes to Canmore’s development rules mean more areas could be opened up for legal suites and increased opportunities for housing in the community.
The Town of Canmore has proposed amendments this summer to the Land Use Bylaw (LUB), the first of a series of changes to completely overhaul and rewrite the community’s development legislation.
Council heard details about the changes and passed first reading of the amending bylaw at its Aug. 22 meeting. A public hearing for input into the changes, which also include updates to the green building policy and omnibus changes, was scheduled for Sept. 12 at 6 p.m.
Development planner Audrey Rogers pointed to changes in the Municipal Development Plan to encourage additional accessory dwellings to be built in the community as ways to create more housing opportunities as the context within which administration is bringing forward the amendments.
“We are proposing to allow, as a permitted use, accessory dwellings in standard single-family dwellings and duplexes, and detached garden suites on single-family lots that are a minimum of 400 square metres or larger,” Rogers said. “Lane, or alley access, is proposed to no longer be a requirement.”
A key element of accessory dwellings being a permitted use is that they are not subject to appeals at the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board.
A discretionary use, on the other hand, could have approvals appealed to the quasi-judicial appeal board. Rogers noted that if an approval had a variance, even as a permitted use, that decision would also be appealable.
Currently, the LUB only allows accessory suites in single-family neighbourhoods where the subject property has laneway or alley access. Suites, if permitted or approved, have to comply with Alberta Building Codes and owners must apply for building permits. Owners of attached suites would not be required to apply for a development permit, however, unless variances were being requested.
On the other hand, changes to the bylaw set out that detached suites would require a development permit. The changes are meant to remove overly-restrictive regulatory barriers to suites being developed.
In order to protect the integrity of neighbourhoods, changes include updated design controls, while parking requirements are reduced when the property is located within walking distance to downtown, close to transit, and provide bike parking. No suite parking would be required if it was within one kilometre of the town centre or 450 metres of a transit stop and two storage spaces for bikes would have to be provided.
“These are the options available; we are talking about a minimum requirement,” Rogers said. “There is still an opportunity to provide parking on site should the homeowner wish.”
The discussion included the current issue Canmore is experiencing with illegal tourist homes in residential neighbourhoods and whether the development permit process could provide another avenue to manage the problem.
General manager of municipal infrastructure Michael Fark said the Land Use Bylaw already sets out what is permitted and not, so adding additional regulations such as a restrictive covenant as part of an accessory suite approval, was not being recommended.
“A restrictive covenant, or other legal mechanism, has no added value,” he said.
Suite applications would be for residential purposes only, and the development approval process would make that clear.
Changes proposed to the LUB this summer originally included amendments to employee housing and steep creek policies, however, were not put forward for first reading along with suites, green building changes and omnibus changes.
The changes to the green building regulations update the section, which has been in place for over a decade, to align with recent updates to the provincial building code and Energy Resources Canada’s EnerGuide program for new homes.
The coverall omnibus changes are also intended to address ambiguities around interpretation of sections that have proven to be problematic, like whether a driveway should or shall be located in a laneway.
Mayor and council noted the changes to the bylaw going to public hearing for consideration are ones that address issues that have been in the community for a while.
“I feel that many of these changes have been needed for a while and will help stop some of the confusion homeowners and landowners have when they go to develop a home,” said Councillor Joanna McCallum.
Not only have the suite changes come out of the MDP, but Canmore Community Housing Corporation also published a policy paper two years ago on Canmore’s accessory suite issues and opportunities leading up to that statutory legislation’s update in 2016.
The report estimated there could be between 500 and 600 secondary suites throughout Canmore representing between 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the rental housing stock – some in places where suites are permitted and others where they are not.
Most of them were illegal, a significant concern for CCHC when it comes to health and safety of tenants, according to the report.
Canmore also created a $50,000 incentive program to spur secondary suite development in the community last year and saw nobody apply. The goal was to increase compliance of illegal suites with the building code, a health and safety issue identified as a concern by council, as well as increase choice in the housing market.
The restrictive nature of current regulations, administration believes, is why the program went unsubscribed.
