Decision on divisive Saskatoon zoning changes delayed by long speaker list

A long list of concerned citizens speaking at Saskatoon city council pushed back the vote on a massive overhaul of the city's zoning rules that would allow fourplex development across much of the city and four-storey apartments in some neighbourhoods.

The vote is now scheduled for Friday sometime after city council reconvenes at 10 a.m.

The vote was pushed forward after a full day of listening to speakers at Thursday's special council meeting. It started at 9:30 a.m. with a list of dozens of people waiting to speak. The last speaker finished shortly before 7:30 p.m.

The speakers — and the hundreds of letters submitted to council — were split on the issue.

The zoning changes are among the eligibility requirements for the city to access the federal government's Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) — which would inject more than $41 million into affordable housing and help address the city's housing crisis.

Saskatoon's census metropolitan area grew by 16,161 people in the last year, according to a recent Statistics Canada report. In order to accommodate that growth, the city says more than 5,000 homes are needed — but only less than half of that number have been built, mostly in relatively expensive housing.

According to a City of Saskatoon FAQ, the federal funding is meant to focus on increasing what's known as the "missing middle, the range of housing types that fit between single-family detached homes and mid-to-high-rise apartment buildings."

The first big change would be allowing four units on most lots that are at least 15 metres (50 feet) wide in the city as a default. Presently, most lots are occupied by single-family homes, but are allowed to have a duplex or semi-detached home on them. 

The proposed zoning changes would therefore effectively double what's allowed on many lots, from two units to four.

These could be row-style houses, or they could be stacked with two units on the bottom and two on top, or they could be small apartments with two homes at the front and two in the back. 

In certain areas of the city, the new zoning changes would go even further.

Saskatoon is in the process of rolling out Bus Rapid Transit, a revamped version of the city's transit system with high-frequency buses along main routes, and routes in smaller neighbourhoods feeding into those routes. 

As part of that plan, the city is hoping to establish "transit corridors," or places with denser development made up of more apartments and condos instead of single-family homes. Under the proposed zoning changes, most housing within 800 metres of a rapid transit stop would be allowed to be four storeys in height.

The issue has been a hot one for debate. More than 50 speakers were expected during Thursday's meeting. Council also received 392 letters, both supporting and against the proposed changes.