Increasing the inventory
Town of Stratford holds public meeting as part of process to provide additional housing options
The Town of Stratford is one step closer to trying to create more room for those looking for looking for a place to live.
The town held a public meeting on Wednesday night on the topic of secondary suites, essentially taking care of a policy issue that will align a bylaw passed last fall by the previous council with the town’s Official Plan.
“I think it went well,’’ Mayor Steve Ogden said of the public meeting. “There was no opposition to it. People (just) had some questions about what’s required in terms of the secondary suites.’’
Council passed a bylaw last fall removing the requirement that secondary suites could only be rented out to a blood relative, Ogden said.
Provisions were put in the bylaw to state that a home must be owner-occupied to be eligible for a secondary suite and that the suite can’t be rented for less than one month at a time. This is to ensure that they could not be rented as short-term rentals like Airbnb’s.
The town wants secondary suites used as living units for people within the community, not tourist accommodations.
The owner must enter into a development agreement with the town to ensure all provisions are followed or the permission for the suite can be revoked.
The major difference now between secondary suites and the old in-law suites is people are no longer required to be related to the occupant of the suite.
Ogden said despite the fact the bylaw was passed in November by the previous council, it hasn’t been changed in the Official Plan.
“So, the Official Plan was out of sync,’’ he said. “The wording had to be changed to make sure that we allow people to rent their secondary suites. We’re just trying to make it so that there are more accommodations, to make Stratford more affordable. It’s to increase the housing supply.’’
The town normally does a revision of the Official Plan every five years. It is now in the process of making the revision for secondary suites but could only do so after a public meeting was held.
“We had to hold a public meeting as part of the process.’’
While people would like to see more affordable housing, their really is no way to ensure these units would be more affordable. In fact, they might be more expensive than traditional units based on what the home owner is offering. What it does do is allows the town to expand its existing housing inventory, which could eventually help reduce rents if it can get ahead of the high demand there is right now.