The Town of Hay River announced today that council has approved “significant updates” to their zoning and building bylaws.
Town officials said the changes aim to boost “diverse, affordable” housing options, support higher density residential developments and enable “innovative” housing solutions.
The updated plan follows recent recommendations as outlined in a strategic housing report presented to town council.
Glenn Smith, Senior Administrative Officer, told True North FM that the town has received $2 million in funding support from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Housing Accelerator Fund.
Smith said community engagement played a key role, with input from residents, business owners, stakeholder groups and other governments shaping the final changes.
Minimumized footprints and increased multi-family zones, were emphasized by Smith as among the main aspects of the changes that will have the most potential benefit for the community.
“I think the removal of minimum footprints in some areas for the zone part for new homes is helpful, it allows for smaller, more cost-effective development, it can increase density and lower cost associated with municipal development. I think the increase for multi-family in different zones of communities is another great benefit in terms of just seeing a need for that type of housing and now we can have some more flexibility in that generally lower cost housing can be developed in town,” said Smith.
In a recent chat, Smith shared additional insights and details that we will post soon.
Some of the changes included allowing temporary work camps in designated industrial areas, which was a point of contention for some community members, said Smith.
The new plan allows for expanding zoning to support transitional housing, emergency shelters, and on-the-land wellness centres, adding flexibility for multi-unit residential development, removing minimum dwelling size requirements to encourage affordable housing and clarifying modular construction as permitted for duplexes, row houses, and caretaker units.
Anyone who would like to access the new zoning and building plan can head to Hary River’s website and their planning webpages https://hayriver.com/planning/.
