Under Bill 23, people can add up to three units to ease housing crunch

For the second time in a year, a housing advocate is asking the Niagara-on-the-Lake council to embrace secondary suites on existing residential properties.

“I (spoke) to the previous council, asking them to allow secondary suites and accessory dwelling units as a tool to help address housing affordability,” Scott Robinson told council April 25.

Secondary suites are separate living spaces that can be built on one property to accommodate additional residents.

Almost exactly a year ago, council gave the idea its support in principle but Robinson says there’s been pushback to secondary suites from residents and that council appears to be discouraging them.

“I want the town to enthusiastically embrace this tool,” he said.

Coun. Sandra O’Connor asked how the town was discouraging accessory dwelling units.

Robinson referenced a letter town staff wrote to the province last year about the housing reforms included in Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, which is now law.

In it, staff listed secondary suites and accessory dwelling units among their top concerns. 

“Allowing additional residential units ‘as-of-right’ in existing residential areas without examining the specific municipal implications could have adverse impacts,” said the staff letter.

Further to that, council asked the province to “pause” the bill because it was concerned permitting secondary suites “as of right” would “not allow for local context, character or infrastructure capacity considerations.” 

As Robinson brought up the letter, he was interrupted by Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa who said “Let’s not go too far into that. We got the answer, I think.”

Later, Zalepa said he was trying to keep the meeting “on topic.”

Robinson also referenced a council meeting where more than a dozen residents spoke against a resident’s request for a zoning change that would allow for an above-garage living space.

“Council spent over an hour and a half debating one secondary suite,” he said.

Coun. Gary Burroughs pointed out that Robinson’s goal to get more secondary suites built is made easier by the passage of Bill 23 last November.

Robinson agreed, saying residents no longer need to rezone a property to build a secondary suite. They just need a building permit.

He said residents seem unaware they can build up to three separate living spaces on their properties thanks to the new legislation. 

Chief administrative officer Marnie Cluckie said the town is revising its plan to promote secondary units because, with Bill 23 now enacted, the town’s plan is not aligned with the provincial legislation.

She added there was also confusion because secondary units can be used for both short- and long-term rentals.

“Accessory buildings for short-term rentals do have requirements,” Cluckie said.

The town’s bylaws permit secondary suites as short-term rental but requires they be used as a primary residence for four years first. 

“Our goal is to keep people in the community, have youth here, have families and complete communities,” she said.

Despite the municipality’s desire to attract young people to live and work in NOTL, Robinson said the town is getting “older and richer and whiter.”

“Wealthy people are coming in and pricing out longtime middle-class residents and workers,” he added.

Youth, downsizing seniors and middle-class workers have nowhere to rent, he said.

Coun. Nick Ruller told council the “easy part” was supporting secondary units in principle.

But he was worried about “unintended consequences,” which would be hard to address after the fact.

O’Connor pointed out that when the previous council supported Robinson, it did so reluctantly because of the potential impact on heritage.

Coun. Wendy Cheropita pointed out that short-term rentals appear to compete with long-term rentals because property owners can choose to rent a secondary suite for either purpose. 

“My proposal would not increase the number of properties that are eligible to become short-term rentals,” Robinson told The Lake Report in an email. 

When it was pointed out that owners could build accessory units, move in to them, and rent the primary unit out for short-term use, Robinson said it was his opinion “that the current NOTL policies would allow this change.”

“Eliminating short-term rentals would also increase the supply of rental housing, but that is not the tool that I am proposing at this time,” he added.

Robinson argues that secondary suites could have a “transformational effect” on the town’s lack of affordable housing.