With an eye on accommodating provincially mandated growth within the city, council members are looking at allowing taller buildings and increased accessory units.
Those were the main suggestions, with a lot of caveats, put forward during a council workshop on Monday evening designed to gather council input as staff work on a variety of growth-related planning documents.
“It is extremely difficult,” Mayor Cam Guthrie told GuelphToday of planning for this level of growth. “When we grow, it’s not just about where people are living, it’s about all of the city services … They can’t be ignored. They are required for growth to occur.”
Alongside council’s comments, city staff will also take into account the results of a recent public survey, a virtual town hall session and stakeholder consultations. Additional public and stakeholder consultations are expected before the plans are presented to council for consideration.
Growth plans must be finalized by the end of 2021 and submitted to the province for approval by mid-2022.
“These are big moments in our city,” Guthrie said, noting all too often people offer reactionary comments when development comes in that they disagree with, but this is an opportunity to be proactive. “We really need input from the public.”
As required by the provincial government, Guelph’s population is expected to increase by at least 60,000 in the next 30 years, bringing it to about 203,000 by 2051. Of that, half is required to be accommodated in already built-up areas of the city.
In order to do that, established neighbourhoods will see about 12,500 new housing units brought on stream.
During Monday’s workshop, council was asked to comment on options that cover the downtown core, residential nodes and corridors, as well as established low-density areas. A consistent comment about all of the above was that each individual area, and sites within those defined areas, is different and the rules should not be broadly applied.
“I really struggle with not taking the context into consideration,” said Coun. Dominique O’Rourke, noting the geography can change greatly even within a single corridor. “Not all the parts are equal.”
There are areas of the city that are better suited to allowing taller buildings than are currently allowed, council members generally agreed. Many pointed to downtown, while others suggested areas near plentiful amenities and greenspace or along major roads.
“There are heritage issues with growth,” noted Coun. Leanne Caron. “I think it’s important we grow … and simultaneously have policies to protect that. The policies have to go hand-in-hand.”
Another fairly consistent comment was that the character of residential neighbourhoods needs to be maintained, though the comfort level of increasing building heights in those areas varied from the status quo to allowing a couple additional storeys along major roads.
“NIMBYism is going to run rampant,” cautioned Coun. Mark MacKinnon, referring to the 'not in my backyard' approach often taken by neighbours of proposed developments. “We’re going to experience pushback.”
Impacts on traffic and parking also need to be key considerations when placing infill growth, city staff heard, as do access to transit, amenities and parks.
There were also calls to expand the use of accessory units – basement apartments, micro homes, etc. – to meet intensification requirements.
“People seem very supportive of those,” Guthrie said, noting they can also address issues of affordability.
Those accessory units, legal and not, are often created long after homes are built, added Coun. Phil Allt.
“That’s out of our control,” he said.
Council members also expressed concern that their input, as well as that from the public, will be of little value if concerns about limits to the city’s water supply, as well as its capacity to handle wastewater, aren’t enough to handle the mandated growth.
“The science told us over 10 years ago that we had a problem,” said Guthrie, noting those reasons were used to reduce growth targets for the city before his time on council.
“Wouldn’t that truth and that science hold true?”
In response, deputy CAO Kealy Dedman explained things have changed since those issues were first flagged. There has been a “very successful” water conservation program that has brought down water usage in the city, as well as new technology on the wastewater front that allows for greater capacity.
City staff are working to confirm there is enough water supply and capacity for wastewater, noted Natalie Goss, the city’s senior policy planner Those types of issues are being looked at as the growth-related plans are being developed.
If it turns out those issues would prevent the city from growing to 203,000 people by 2051, Dedman added, the city would seek a change in the province’s mandated numbers.
The issue of the Dolime Quarry, near the intersection of Hanlon Expressway and Wellington Street, also came into play. An application was filed about a year ago that could see that property annexed from Guelph-Eramosa Township and brought within the City of Guelph limits.
There is potential for that quarry land to be converted into residential living in the future.
“It could change things, I would imagine,” commented Coun. Cathy Downer.
As it stands right now, Dolime is outside of the city’s established urban boundaries and doesn’t count toward intensification growth plans, Goss responded. If a decision is made by the province to bring it into the city boundary, staff will need to take that into account.
