The time has come for the community of Canmore to have a serious conversation around suites.
From basement suites, to garden suites and even garage suites – it is a sweet time to dive deep into a conversation around accessory dwelling units, what they should look like and where they should be allowed.
Canmore council passed first reading of a brand new Land Use Bylaw (LUB) this week, putting the new planning legislation officially into the public domain for debate and consideration.
In a community where even cutting down a single tree can be a controversial development issue, the massive overhaul to the bylaw is guaranteed to get chins wagging and hopefully meaningful dialogue between residents about some pretty significant issues.
Suites above all sticks out as a sore thumb of regulations that needed to be updated.
Suites represent an untapped potential for housing in the community – from making current suites legal, to opening the door for the potential development of more housing in established neighbourhoods.
Canmore considered opening up suites throughout single-family neighbourhoods before, but council of the day scaled the proposed changes back to only allow them in homes that have a laneway or alley.
This time, the planning department has proposed to take the change even further, with the allowance for suites in duplexes as well as single family homes.
On top of that are changes to parking requirements where reductions are proposed for proximity to the downtown or transit stops, and we have as a community a delicious recipe for public debate.
Opinions are going to vary on this issue, as they should, with those in favour arguing for additional housing choices to support people who live and work in the community and those against, concerned about the changing character of their valued neighbourhood.
In 2015, Canmore Community Housing Corporation (CCHC) put out a policy paper on accessory suites that supported legalization of existing suites or creation of new ones as a way to address a lack of affordable housing options in the community.
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. Most of them are illegal, a significant concern for CCHC when it comes to health and safety of tenants. The report was intended to inform council and administration as they undertook a rewrite of the Municipal Development Plan and subsequently the LUB.
What the report did not anticipate, however, was the issue of illegal tourist home rentals and websites like Airbnb that have made it easy and highly profitable for homeowners to rent their suites out to visitors instead of residents.
This remains an unsolved issue in the community and unfortunately the proposed bylaw does not address it. We are assured that phase two of the rewrite will tackle this policy conundrum for the community. But in the meantime many residents will remain concerned that council is considering making it easier to have a suite without any regulations around preventing them from becoming commercial operations.