Belleville Official Plan Review Stakeholder Workshop Summary

NPG Planning Solutions Inc. facilitated three (3) stakeholder workshops in collaboration with the City of Belleville as part of the Official Plan Review process. Workshops were an open dialogue conversation, guided by questions focused on planning for growth, community needs, trends and priorities over the next 25 years.

In general, discussion focused on the challenges associated with accommodating greater density with specific reference to parking limitations as a critical challenge downtown and in neighbourhoods. There was significant discussion around Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and barriers to providing this form of housing in neighbourhoods, as well as discussion around funding to support this type of housing. Discussion also focused on current trends for housing in the City, with most demand for single detached dwellings on as-of-yet undeveloped lands.

The input received will informs policy and process updates to ensure the Official Plan continues to support the type of growth envisioned for the City of Belleville.

Stakeholders

• Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board
• Belleville Chamber of Commerce
• Quinte Region Landlords Association
• Habitat for Humanity
• Quinte Conservation Authority
• Loyalist College
• Southeast Public Health
• Quinte Home Builders Association
• WSE Consulting
• Duvanco Homes Inc. Vendermeer Limited

Discussion summary

Housing needs

• The City is currently in a transition period where the transportation system is moving away from an automobile-focused system to a multi-modal system that supports greater use of public transit and active transportation. Enhancing multi-modal and public transit systems is critical to supporting the viability of greater density and viability of varied housing forms across the City.
• It is observed that real estate trends in Belleville lag a couple of years behind the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This observation is important to informing what future housing needs may look like and planning for them in advance.
• The current demand for housing from builders’ perspective is largely for single-detached or semi-detached dwellings, and, particularly, for bungalows. The City has just recently permitted some “missing middle” forms of housing such as stacked townhouse dwellings through their new Zoning By-law. The development of stacked townhouses has additional timelines given the requirements for Site Plan. In some cases, the requirements for amenity areas discourage the development of missing middle forms of housing.
• Providing more housing options in downtown could attract young people (including college students), professionals and families. Younger demographics tend to prefer public transit and alternative modes of transportation over personal automobiles.
• There is a need to provide housing options for seniors to age-in-place with options for smaller dwelling units as they downsize.
• Modular homes were discussed, including the high transportation costs for these structures and the fact that there are a limited number of designs leading to design repetition, which is discouraged in some City guidelines.
• Some landlords prefer short term rentals over long term rentals because there is greater control over the property and it is seen to be less risky. This also means the number of long-term rentals options in Belleville decreases.

Planning for growth

• With back-in-office mandates now largely in place, young families and professionals that moved to Belleville during the pandemic will likely be looking to relocate due to the lack of employment options. The City needs to consider its long-term employment strategy to attract a skilled workforce to Belleville, which impacts development and housing needs.

Barriers to development

• Challenges for the construction of ADUs in existing or new-builds include the required parking and lack of space on properties to include additional parking.
• Some commented on hidden costs associated with building ADUs and in incentivizing homeowners and landlords to build ADUs. Common barriers include the costs of construction for an ADU, particularly for homeowners and small landlords. Increased costs for Municipal Tax Assessments are unknown with ADUs.
• Fears around being issued fines and being forced to shut down ADUs that were not built to the current building standards and/or registered are common barriers for homeowners and small-time landlords.
• High costs of construction materials is a significant challenge to building housing that is more affordable.
• Policy and zoning requirements pose challenges for development and utilizing developable area, such as requirements for large amenity spaces, sidewalk connections, and right-of-way widths (ROW). Some developers suggested that ROW widths could be reduced.
• Lack of commercial uses and public transit availability presents key challenges to building “missing middle” forms of housing, such as different types of townhouses (e.g freehold townhouses, stacked townhouses, and more).

Considerations for the Official Plan

• Greater direction should be provided in the Official Plan regarding the allowance of neighbourhood commercial uses in residential neighbourhoods. This includes guidance for siting, location, proximity to transit routes and parks, etc.
• Additional policies for farm worker housing should be explored.