Helping spur development
Federal government invests $1.8 million in Wolfville initiatives
Wolfville is going to fasttrack 45 housing units during the next three years.
It is one component of a $1.8-million project the town and federal government announced Feb. 21. The funding is coming from the $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund.
Wolfville Mayor Wendy Donovan said a lot of work went into the application process.
“Now we have the opportunity to really roll up our sleeves … and get to work,” she said.
Donovan said a housing study for the town showed a significant need.
“It identified a major housing gap, just for our small town, of some 800 units in the next three years, and double that in the next five or six years,” she said.
Per capita, the town is one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada.
“We are in the midst of a boom where Nova Scotia is growing, and particularly the communities in the Annapolis Valley are growing by leaps and bounds,” Kings-hants MP Kody Blois said.
“People want to live in our communities because, look at it, who wouldn’t want to live near the highest tides in the world, beautiful landscapes and a beautiful town like Wolfville,” he said during the outdoor announcement along the town’s waterfront.
The town will use the money to remove barriers to building housing. It includes waiving fees for certain projects, engaging with the community, reviewing policies around exclusionary housing, exploring creation of a land bank, creating a working group, establishing an affordable housing grant, looking at ways of reducing parking requirements and hiring more staff.
“We have two planning staff, and they’re full out all the time,” Donovan said.
Some of the initiatives will permit more density in areas currently zoned for singlefamily households and increase building heights.
Donovan said she saw the waiving of fees being more for non-market housing projects by non-profit organizations, while Devin Lake, the town’s director of planning and development, said it would create a fund to support non-market housing projects.
“Our role is really setting the stage for things to get built,” Lake said. “We’re trying to set the best stage possible so people can invest, whether it’s market or nonmarket housing.”
Wolfville has a population of about 5,000 permanent residents and that nearly doubles when Acadia University students are taken into account.
Donovan said the university is embarking on a modern student housing strategy. She added students bring a lot to the town but also create a housing pressure.
“Our students need safe, affordable housing if they’re going to do well at school,” she said.
As part of the federal funding, the town will increase residential development near the campus by selecting suitable parcels of land and rezoning them to allow for multi-unit dwellings.
Blois and Hants West MLA Melissa Sheehy-richard were in town in January 2023 to announce funding for upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant to help prepare the town for future development. Some of the $6-million upgrades have already occurred, and town officials are planning the final phases that will take place in the next 18 months.