Richmond Hill unanimously approves motion to boost Housing Accelerator Fund application

Council votes to review 4-unit housing across city to access federal funds, create more affordable housing

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 30, 2023
Melissa Wallace

Richmond Hill council unanimously supported a motion to direct staff to strengthen the city’s Housing Accelerator Fund application, a move that could allow for the development of four residential units on a property wherever zoning permits.

The decision was made, in part, after receiving a letter from Sean Fraser, the federal minister of housing infrastructure and communities, with recommendations to improve the city’s chances of accessing $34 million in funding.

The Oct. 25 approved motion directs staff to propose an amendment to the City’s Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw to permit up to four residential units on a property wherever zoning permits single detached, semi-detached, or townhouse dwelling units. Through Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, the city currently allows up to three residential dwelling units on a “parcel of urban residential land.”

Other components of the motion include:

• Council direct staff to propose an amendment to the City’s Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw to allow up to four storeys “as-of-right” within a major transit station area along the Yonge Street and Highway 7 priority transit corridors where there is a mixed-use centre or corridor designation in the Official Plan with permissions for building heights of three storeys or greater.
• Council direct staff on an expedited basis to conduct community and stakeholder consultation and assessment of impacts to infrastructure capacity be undertaken as part of this work to obtain feedback prior to making a recommendation to Council.
• Council direct staff to further engage the federal and provincial government to explore all opportunities, including incentivizing residents with programs that would allow the city to expedite and deliver affordable housing units to ensure Richmond Hill is a community with a number of housing options for current and future residents.

“The Housing Accelerator Fund will help us to incentivize all kinds of different types of housing, mostly in our case, on the corridors in Richmond Hill, particularly on Yonge Street, that will provide a range of housing that is more affordable to a larger group of people,” said Mayor David West. “Every journey starts with a first step, and this is one of the steps that I'd like to be able to take and move the needle quickly because, you know, I think all the time about the number of people that really can't afford to live in Richmond Hill.

“They'd like to live in Richmond Hill, maybe they work in Richmond Hill, but they can't afford to be here. And these are our kids. These are seniors who are wanting to retire but stay in the community that they know. And these are new people that are going to come to our community and enrich our community. And these are the people that I think about when we think about affordability.”