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Originally Posted by spaustin
Partially correct. Density bonusing, when it comes, in the Centre Plan area must be accompanied by affordable housing. The city has no choice there as the amendments to the charter passed by the NDP said affordable housing must be part of the mix. In the Downtown Secondary Plan (what we often call HRMbyDesign), density bonusing can be for any number of things. Affordable housing is just one of them. So far, the uptake from developers has been good on a lot of the other categories, but not on the affordable housing side. Not sure if they just don't want to include affordable units in their developments or its the problem of defining affordable on the city side or if it's a combination of both. So far, it seems ineffective and my hunch is developers aren't interested in doing it.
I think density bonusing for affordable housing is a good idea, but it seems unlikely that it will make a substantial contribution to affordability in Halifax. I'm not convinced that compelling developers to include affordable units would be the best approach either. We're not Vancouver. The scale of development is obviously a lot smaller here and the profits earned are less as well. Really, I think the city and province need to get back into actually creating affordable housing. Take the development of the old Sobeys site on Gottingen. That's been in the works for years now and, my understanding, is project financing has been one of the hurdles. What if there had been a city fund to help? What if it had planning priority? If the city had a revolving fund to loan money to non-profits who want to build housing and prioritized affordable projects in the planning queue, that would likely do a lot more than density bonusing or trying to force developers into building units. Just my two cents anyway.
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Wait. So in the coming Centre Plan, there will be *no* density bonusing for proposals-- for example, no greater height allowances-- for *any* reason unless affordable housing is also a part of the proposal? Even if many other public benefits are included... no density bonusing?
I support affordable housing, but this seems like a blockheaded idea for a city that has struggled to promote even a meager amount of development on the Peninsula for decades.
Has there been even a modest study on the impact such a requirement might have on development in the Centre Plan area, especially since developers have, for obvious reasons, been hesitant from offering it in the HRMxD covered core?
The obvious reason is what someone123 mentioned earlier: NIMBYism. I mean, the SpiritPlace proposal was basically killed by northend NIMBYs because they feared it might bring young people and single moms to the neighborhood even though it was essentially a development for seniors (particularly in the BGLAD community).
If you are going to make affordable housing a part of EVERY development via density bonusing, then you better not be killing proposals based on lame/hare brained "public consultation" sessions where three people show up with placards to harangue the developer and strongarm community councils.
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