Summerside keeping some low-density neighbourhoods and its Housing Accelerator money

The City of Summerside has amended its Housing Accelerator deal with the federal government to preserve some neighbourhoods for single-family residences only.

P.E.I. cities had pushed back against a federal requirement to allow a minimum of four units on every residential lot as a condition for receiving money from the fund. Summerside signed up for $5.8 million, but Mayor Dan Kutcher said it wasn't clear what exactly was meant by the four-unit requirement.

"The first agreement with the federal government… it simply said four units as-of-right. And that was it," said Kutcher.

"As we went through this process and heard some of the concerns from residents, we were able to go back to our federal counterparts and say, 'Look, when we started this, we were trying to figure out how can we make this work? So is it duplexes with a garden suite and accessory unit that gives us four, or is it townhouses?' And so we've been working with them. And so we were able to remove the apartment piece from both R1 and R2 [zones]."

At a council meeting Monday night, councillors were presented with proposed amendments to Summerside's official plan that would leave R1 for single-family homes and R2 for low-density, mixed residential.

About 25 Summerside residents attended the regular council meeting on Monday night, most with questions and concerns about the official plan.

Ward 8 Coun. Carrie Adams said she is still hearing concerns from residents regarding where four-unit buildings would be allowed, and in particular about traffic.

"The issue really lies in established subdivisions where there's some existing empty lots," Adams said.

"For example, there was one subdivision, we counted up the lots that were empty … and if you put four units — it doesn't matter if it's a townhouse, row house or apartment — it would be up to maybe 60 extra cars on that road in one subdivision in a day. So it does add up."

The main goal of the Housing Accelerator Fund is to increase the population density of Canada's cities, and Summerside's proposed official plan does include areas where that can happen.

The planned East-West Housing Corridor will connect Water Street East with Ryan Street in the city's north end. The project could include apartment buildings up to 10 storeys high, but changes to that plan were also presented. New buildings abutting a lot with an existing residential building would be limited to four storeys, and there could still be further amendments.

"Where we are now is we're into the final steps in terms of trying to figure out if there are other changes that can be put in place that take into account some of the concerns that we've heard from residents." Kutcher said.

Adams is looking for changes in the area of Water Street East.

"There's residential there, but we currently have it marked out as you can put a 10-storey apartment building in that area," said Adams.