Regina city council will debate a motion Wednesday that would allow builders to make new residential buildings more dense, and add more units to existing buildings.
The motion looks to secure money from the federal government’s housing accelerator grant program to build more housing in the city and meet the demand expected in the future.
In its agenda, the City of Regina said it approved a plan at a meeting on June 7 this year to use part of the grant program money for 1,100 permit approvals on top of the usual number of housing units over the next three years.
The plan is to make the city centre more dense, address the gaps in middle housing in neighbourhoods, cut some housing-related red tape for some applications and support the conversion of non-residential buildings to residential use.
The city also plans to remove the parking minimums for developments near main transit routes.
The majority of the 10 delegates who have sent letters to council about the motion are in support of it, including Vanessa Mathews, a professor at the University of Regina who researches urban space and urban planning, and has been following the city’s densification efforts for a little more than a decade.
She said people should understand that this type of motion will support filling middle housing density, like multiplexes.Â
“These are spaces that quite often fit in quite seamlessly into our neighbourhood,” she said.
“If we continue to develop outward without having the growth that’s taking place in core areas, then we’re going to end up really paying the price, and the costs are going to go up for servicing these areas in the future.”
Others, like Jim Elliott — who has ran for Regina mayor for three consecutive elections — are somewhat opposed. He said he agrees with the intent, but not the city’s planned execution.
He proposed using the Taylor Field area for development rather than opening up buildings for more units.
“Because the Taylor Fields yards are under the city’s control they have a lot more potential to say ‘OK, we’re going to do this,’ and … hopefully, in many cases, you could actually see housing built within the next two or three years.”