City releases report on infill housing guidelines

Official says study will be used to help develop policy plans and documents

While a consultant’s report is now in, it won’t do much right now but provide a set of as-yet-unenforceable guidelines on infill housing, a City of Regina official advised.

“The biggest thing is that we don’t want expectations to be so high that now we have this document that we can actually enforce it — because we can’t,” said Shauna Bzdel, the city’s director of planning. “It is guidelines.”

Earlier this week, the city received a consultant’s report on infill housing guidelines, which looks in detail at various types of such development — such as single-detached, semi-detached and low-rise apartments, among others — and provides recommendations for the design of each.

While there are benefits in terms of accommodating a growing city population, infill housing has been the topic of controversy as neighbours express concerns that include privacy, lack of sun exposure and structural and esthetic fit with neighbourhoods.

Those concerns and others were raised during public and stakeholder meetings and discussed by an external working group. Outcomes of those meetings, along with Canadian best practices, were considered in the guidelines developed by the consultant.

The report will now be subject to an administrative review, with the expectation the consultant’s work will be the basis for public consultation in the development of policy documents — such as neighbourhood plans and a new zoning bylaw.

Bzdel said research is still being done in terms of developing that zoning bylaw, and she didn’t know when it will be in place.

While some concerns addressed in the consultant’s report — such as maximum height, yard setbacks and privacy — might be able to be addressed through regulations, others will be trickier.

“Generally, the City of Regina does not have architectural controls, so things like facade or things like that we may not be able to enforce through the zoning bylaw ...,” Bzdel said.

“Some of (the concerns raised) we can’t necessarily control with a regulation. So that’s the challenge and that’s why we need to take this document and further examine how we implement the recommendations in this document, because it may not be something that we can actually even implement. They are guidelines until we have them as an actual regulation.”

Bzdel noted some guidelines might also butt up against cost and ability to enforce. She said certain recommended guideline-based changes to existing housing plans might result in increased costs that aren’t feasible.

“If somebody is building a house in an existing neighbourhood or if a developer is wanting to develop an area, we would encourage them to look at the guidelines and use them as a guideline ... but there is no way for us to enforce it right now,” she said.

Going forward, it’s possible the guidelines could be used in cases of refreshing neighbourhood plans.

“It’s a piece of research to tell us what we need to look at when we’re redeveloping these existing neighbourhoods,” she said. “And better yet, it gives the residents some surety of what’s to come.”

The consultant’s report is available online at DesignRegina.ca/ currentprojects.