Mayor Predicts Halifax Will Use Inclusionary Zoning On All ‘Large Developments’
HALIFAX–When Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston made his housing announcement last week, his rent control extension stole the headlines. But Houston made another promise that could drastically improve affordable renting options for Haligonians.
For years, the Halifax Regional Municipality has been lobbying the province for “inclusionary zoning” powers. Previous governments never handed that power over, but Houston says his government will pass a bill soon.
“Inclusionary zoning is a big part of [a] city that is … for everybody–so we’re very pleased about that,” Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said in an interview with Huddle.
“When I became Mayor in 2012, Waye (Mason), myself, and some other councilors talked about housing when we set our agenda for that term, and a number of councilors said ‘wait, timeout, that’s not our gig, that’s the province’s… But we always felt there is a role for us in housing.”
Having inclusionary powers will give the city the legal ability to force developers to earmark a certain number of rental units for affordable housing. Savage envisions the HRM using inclusionary zoning for every major residential development.
“Certainly, large developments, I see all being involved in this. We’re not talking about three-unit townhouses or things like that,” he said. “And I see it not just in the core of the city. It’s an HRM policy so I think the potential is really significant.”
When asked how he would label “large developments,” the mayor said it could be projects with hundreds of apartment units or even less.
Savage could not speculate, however, on how many affordable housing units per large development the city would ask from developers, or how exactly the regulations will apply.
Inclusionary zoning could, in theory, bring a large supply of affordable units to Halifax, especially considering how fast the city is growing. According to Savage, the city approved 4,000 residential units to be built last year and there are currently 19,000 total approved units yet to be built. If those trends continue under inclusionary zoning regulations, it could bring positive results.
“If you have inclusionary zoning built into the planning process so that everybody understands what’s involved, you’re looking very quickly at a large number of units,” said Savage.
“I think it’s widely seen as a really important tool for making sure we have affordable housing built in.”
But how will developers feel about having to use inclusionary zoning into their multi-million dollar projects? Last week, Peter Polly, a prominent Halifax developer, suggested inclusionary zoning has negative effects on developments.
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Polly said if 10 per cent of new units in a development must be “affordable,” for example, then the other 90 per cent of tenants in that building would end up paying more to make up the costs.
Mayor Savage, however, says most people he’s talked to from the development community see inclusionary zoning as a positive.
“The developers that I’ve talked to, and certainly community groups, are supportive of it and I’m sure we can come to some decisions pretty quickly on what will be included,” said Savage.
“We don’t want to stifle development. We recognize that anybody who builds, they have to be able to realize a return. I also know that the developers in Halifax are supportive of building affordable housing, as long as it’s something that’s understood from the beginning [of the development process].”
Derek Montague is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].