In pursuing a compatible redevelopment of 22 Weber St W, we wrestled with remaining true to our values of pursuing equitability and sustainability. How to support affordable housing, protect our countryside and protect our architectural heritage and ensure fairness in land-use designations and zoning via appropriate transitions?
The affordable housing question evaporated upon investigation. This proposed development will not help ease the affordable housing1 crisis. The applicant states, via their agent, “While the Owner plans on submitting a Draft Plan of Condominium application in the future, the tenure is still to be determined. Regardless of tenure, an important aspect of the project is to provide housing at an attainable price.”2 The applicant, in aiming at ‘attainable’ rather than affordable housing, is confirming that their pricing will be out of reach to 60% of Kitchener’s population.3 Approving the proposal would not address the affordable housing crisis, would preclude the possibility of affordable housing being built at 22 Weber St W and would render the neighbourhood less inclusive.4
The intensification question similarly evaporates. Neighbours would be pleased to see 22 Weber St W intensified within the limits of municipal legislation.5 Replacement of the existing surface parking lot with a compatible build would enhance the streetscape and make the neighbourhood more vibrant, safe, equitable and sustainable.
Footnotes
1. The 2020 Provincial Policy Statement defines housing as affordable when it does not exceed 30 percent of gross annual household income for low and moderate income households.
2. Page 7, July 2020 Planning Justification Report.
3. As of the production of the Affordable Housing Strategy Phase 2: Housing Needs Assessment, dated December 23, 2019, the upper end of households with ‘moderate incomes’ earn $93,266 (p. 54). The owner is proposing to offer ‘attainable’ housing, a term introduced by the development industry. While not numerically defined, it applies to housing more expensive than affordable housing, but still within reach of the remainder of the community. In other words, 60% of the population would not be able to afford the housing proposed to be built at 22 Weber St W (p. 54, Affordable Housing Strategy Phase 2: Housing Needs Assessment). To understand this better, view the argument expressed by Maedith Radlein in the course of the June 28, 2021 City Council meeting on how even provincially- and regionally-defined ‘affordable housing’ is unaffordable to those most in need. Should the owner succeed with his Draft Plan of Condominium application, there are also no controls on the price at which condominium units can be rented or re-sold.
4. The most recent demographic report (2018) states that the median household income in the Olde Berlin Town neighbourhood was $48,691. If the owner is permitted to build even more units to serve only households with incomes greater than ‘moderate incomes’, the neighbourhood would become less economically diverse and less accessible to those with lower incomes.
5. Full details on the municipal zoning at https://www.kitchener.ca/en/strategic-plans-and-projects/civic-centre.aspx and https://www.kitchener.ca/en/resourcesGeneral/Documents/DSD_PLAN_Heritage_Plan_Civic_Centre.pdf