Burlington Council Unanimously Approves City's New Housing Strategy
Burlington Council has unanimously approved the City's new Housing Strategy and the 12 recommended actions that will help us move toward the vision for housing we have for our city (scroll further down this post for more details on the 12 actions).Below, please find links to the staff report and all relevant supporting documents:
- Staff report: PL-05-22 City of Burlington Housing Strategy
- Appendices:
The Housing Strategy provides a roadmap for addressing local housing needs and increasing housing options that meet the needs of current and future residents at all stages of life and at all income levels. It identifies the key players in housing and their respective roles, including the role of the City of Burlington.The Housing Strategy is underpinned by extensive technical work that can be found in the Housing Needs and Opportunities Report. This report articulates the current state of housing in Burlington as well as current and future housing needs and establishes a toolbox of best practices in housing, focusing on innovative practices and new ideas. In the coming months, staff will begin the work of moving the Housing Strategy to action, guided by the Housing Strategy’s Implementation Plan.
MY TAKE:We know affordable and attainable housing is a top of mind issue for our residents, so we’ve been working hard with our community to come up with action items. The result are the 12 actions in the housing strategy that outline what the City can do, and what we can do in partnership with other levels of government and the private and non-profit sector. No single level of government or business can solve this issue alone. It takes all of us working together to make real progress, so that we can welcome residents of all incomes to live in Burlington.I want to thank our City staff for all their work and especially want to thank the residents and agencies who participated as members of the Burlington Housing Working Group, along with myself, chair Councillor Shawna Stolte, and fellow Council member Paul Sharman. The insights and input were invaluable in achieving these results, and this is true City Hall/community collaboration at work. BACKGROUND:The Housing Strategy is a deliverable of the Housing Strategy project that was undertaken over the course of 18 months (See project timeline in Appendix B). The project was initiated in January 2021, when City Council endorsed the Housing Strategy Proposed Terms of Reference with the objective to:
“…develop an innovative Housing Strategy for the City of Burlington that sets out policies, tools and actions to address residents’ housing needs now and in the future and will build on and support the Region’s Housing Strategy through the development of local solutions to housing issues in the City of Burlington.”
The Housing Strategy provides a roadmap for addressing local housing needs and increasing housing options that meet the needs of current and future residents at all stages of life and at all income levels. It identifies the key players in housing and their respective roles, including the role of the City of Burlington (See Action 1 of the Housing Strategy).The Housing Strategy is underpinned by extensive technical work that can be found in the Housing Needs and Opportunities Report. The Housing Needs and Opportunities Report articulates the current state of housing in Burlington as well as current and future housing needs and establishes a toolbox of best practices in housing, focusing on innovative practices and new ideas.The entire Housing Strategy project was guided by its Engagement Plan (see Appendix C) to deliver public and stakeholder engagement that took place over the course of the project, soliciting over 1,400 responses over the course of 4 online surveys and hosting 6 virtual Open Houses. One key element of the engagement was the Housing Strategy Working Group who along with the Steering Committee guided the preparation of the Housing Strategy.The Housing Strategy identifies 12 Actions to move toward the vision for housing in Burlington. It provides a set of action-oriented housing objectives (Themes) and an associated implementation plan that also identifies a list of Prioritized Actions and Quick Wins.12 RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:The Housing Strategy includes 12 recommended actions that, individually and collectively, will help us move toward the vision for housing we have for the City of Burlington.
| Action No. | Recommended Action | Timeframe (short-term, medium-term, or long-term) |
| 1 | Clearly define the City's role and responsibility in supporting a diversity of housing options that are attainable at all income levels. | Short-term |
| 2 | Act as a connector and partner in the housing system by identifying opportunities to connect people and providers to resources and information related to meeting housing objectives. | Short-term |
| 3 | Allocate appropriate staff resources to implement and administer the Housing Strategy and associated actions. | Short-term |
| 4 | To meet the objectives of the Housing Strategy, build upon the policies of the new Official Plan, 2020 and use the findings of the Housing Strategy Project to establish minimum targets around housing. | Short-term |
| 5 | Develop and Deliver an Annual Housing Monitoring and Reporting System to Council. | Short-term |
| 6 | Build upon the policies of Official Plan, 2020 and the findings of the Housing Strategy Project to inform the Comprehensive Zoning By-Law (CZBL) project, to assist in broadening the range and mix of housing in the City and to explore tools to streamline processes. | Medium- to long-term |
| 7 | Support, permit, and encourage the development of alternate forms of housing, including higher density types of housing, where feasible and appropriate. | Medium-term |
| 8 | Provide incentives through a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) for the delivery of housing options to meet the needs of residents. | Medium-term |
| 9 | Develop an approach to protect Burlington’s rental housing stock. | Short-term |
| 10 | Identify underused properties, including government owned and non-government owned sites that could be used for housing. | Medium-term |
| 11 | Encourage Additional Residential Units (ARUs) and consider a registry and monitoring program to evaluate the success of the framework and to make sure the ARUs meet health and safety standards. | Short- to medium-term |
| 12 | Undertake a formal assessment of the potential to introduce inclusionary zoning. | Short-term |
Next Steps:Staff will continue to explore options to move the Housing Strategy to action. Below are several actions that Staff will start or continue to work on:
- Work with Development Review to find ways to incorporate the consideration of Housing Strategy objectives in advance of its implementation throughout the development review process;
- Continue work on Action 12 of the Housing Strategy to undertake a formal assessment of the potential to introduce Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) through the preparation and peer review of a Municipal Assessment Report to be delivered by the end of 2022; and
- Staff will work over the summer and fall on implementation of the Housing Strategy and report back to Council with an update in Q1 2023.
RELATED LINK: