Summerside adopts official plan, securing $5.8M in federal housing money

Summerside city council adopted a new official plan Monday night as residents filled the council chamber in opposition to it.

The vote means the city will have access to $5.8 million in federal money through the Housing Accelerator Fund. In order to get that money, the city had to allow for four-unit buildings across the city.

"The overall objective is to increase the opportunity for attainable housing, so to create more opportunities for housing across the spectrum and across the entire city. So, you know, it's been a lot of work to get to here", says Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher.

"We know we have a housing supply shortage across this country. We have one here, and in order to address it, we need to continue to build."

The city did make some adjustments to the plan due to public pressure. The city proposed four-unit townhouses or row housing but not four-unit apartment buildings in areas zoned for single-family or mixed residential.

More than 30 people showed up at council for the vote Tuesday night, the vast majority of them opposed to the official plan. The crowd clapped when councillors voted against the plan and jeered when they spoke in favour of it.

Summerside council's 5-3 vote allows more housing density, in the face of some public opposition

1 month ago

Duration 2:32

Summerside's new official plan guarantees the P.E.I. city will retain access to nearly $6 million in federal funding to help increase housing density. More than 30 people filled council chambers Monday night to oppose changes in the plan, many of them worried about more development in existing single-family subdivisions.

"I don't like this plan as it is," said Margo Thompson, adding that she doesn't understand why existing neighbourhoods may have to allow for apartments or townhouses when there is other land to expand into.

"We have lots of open areas that we can infill, they can develop. We don't have to sacrifice what we have in Summerside now, we can add to it. We don't have to change it," she said.

Given the way the vote went, Thompson is worried about a multi-unit dwelling being put up near her home, so she's considering moving, she said.

Last month, more than 100 people packed into a Summerside meeting room to have their say on the official plan, many of them concerned about tall buildings being put next to their homes or added traffic brought on by increased development.

On Monday night, the resolution passed five to three, with councillors Norma McColeman, Bruce MacDougall and Carrie Adams voting against it.

"There are 10, that I quickly counted, multi-unit buildings under construction in Summerside… and they are all varying sizes. They are all more than four [units], 12 might be the smallest… and they are all in varying steps of completion," Adams said during the council meeting.

"I think I would just like to see those and what we have opened now being filled before we tie our hands to an agreement that's not benefiting anybody," she said, adding she didn't think the $5.8 million in federal funds was enough given the cost of new infrastructure that would be needed. 

"It's really nothing to be selling our soul for, so I'm a no," she said.

'I don't think you will see the negative impact'

Coun. Cory Snow said the opposition to apartments and townhouses surprised him.

"I had to grow up living in a four-unit apartment building, I had to live in those things, in the middle of neighbourhoods that had existing housing… I was a little bit taken back by what I call fear of what might move in beside them," Snow said during the council meeting, adding that he noticed concerns coming from areas with some really beautiful homes.

Yea or nay? Summerside councillors have contentious debate over city's new official plan

1 month ago

Duration 3:24

The issue of whether to allow higher density housing was a sticking point during discussions around Summerside's new official plan. Councillors ultimately voted 5-3 in favour of adopting it. We hear from each of the eight councillors who voted Monday night, including Carrie Adams, shown in photo.

"I don't think you will see the negative impact you are concerned of."

A major part of the plan is the East-West Housing Corridor, now under construction, which will connect Water Street East with Ryan Street. Some portions of that development could include apartment buildings up to 10 storeys high, but the city has dialled back on that aspect for now, Kutcher said.

"Originally in the plan, it was what we call as of right 10 storeys," the mayor said. "One of the things council heard from members of the public and then made a change that, you know, maybe that's too much right now. Let's start with six storeys in that zone. And then if someone wants to go above and beyond that, then they need to come to council for approval."

Some residents and councillors suggested the federal government was bypassing the provincial government by going directly to municipalities and offering incentives to increase density, but Kutcher doesn't see it that way.

The city put together a housing task force that had several policy recommendations that overlapped with requirements from the federal government, he said.