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Barrie residents have every right to affordable housing, a safe and comfortable place to call home, raise their family and enjoy the many advantages this city offers in a wealthy nation like Canada.
Barrie residents also have every right to live in a neighbourhood which remains essentially unchanged from when they moved in, whether that means homes on large lots or townhouses or duplexes.
How to find the balance between measures to increase Barrie’s affordable housing stock and protect its established neighbourhoods is facing city councillors squarely in the face, as it has for decades, if truth be told.
This was apparent at a June 15 public meeting.
Proposed changes to Barrie’s zoning bylaw address barriers to housing affordability, clarify definitions, update development standards for second suites and detached accessory dwellings, and improve implementation of the bylaw to support affordable housing programs.
This includes making it easier to build more affordable housing by permitting smaller units, making it easier to create additional dwelling units in existing multi-residential buildings and exploring options for mixed, institutional-residential proposals. Proposed changes would include new standards for detached, accessory dwelling units.
About 20 people spoke at the virtual public meeting and offered opinions on both sides of the argument.
And that’s what it is at this point, an argument that has yet to be resolved and may never be.
Residents spoke of overcrowded neighbourhoods, too many vehicles on their streets and the loss of privacy from detached accessory dwellings in back yards where there used to be a garage, a shed or a garden. They also spoke of homes without families, just many renters and thus human density their communities cannot handle.
Developers, realtors and real estate investors, for the most part, spoke about the proposed zoning-bylaw changes and how they could impede building more second suites and detached accessory units. Most urged talks to find common ground that would lead to more affordable housing.
It should be pointed out that no decisions are made at public meetings. Decisions will be made when planning staff write a report to councillors, likely this fall, and the politicians decide what must happen.
But an argument can be made that these decisions have already essentially been made.
As part of Bill 108, the More Homes, More Choice Act of 2019, the province amended the Planning Act to require that Official Plans permit three housing units on one lot — a main dwelling with a second suite, and a detached accessory suite.
In November of the same year, Barrie city council amended its zoning bylaw to make it easier to build second suites and provide other forms of affordable housing — permitting both a second suite and a detached accessory dwelling unit in nine residential zones — aligning it with provincial legislation.
All of which has come to a surprise to Barrie residents, especially in the city's east end, as detached units have sprung up in their neighbourhoods — many on properties owned by absentee landlords, people who don’t even live in Barrie and would seem to have little regard for the neighbours.
This council has taken measures to deal with that, on a limited basis. It has amended the business licensing bylaw to allow a three-year pilot project requiring absentee landlords to obtain a business licence before renting out a single family home, a semi-detached home or a townhouse unless the owner lives on the premise. This will happen in the Ward 1 area bounded by Duckworth Street, Steel Street, Penetanguishene Road and the city limits on the north side of Georgian Drive. It begins Jan. 1, 2022 and ends Dec. 31, 2024.
On the other hand, Barrie’s affordable housing situation continues to be described as a crisis.
A member of the Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness told council that basement apartments or accessory dwellings built in backyards often carry rents of $1,800 to $2,000 a month.
Barrie has historically had a low inventory of rental housing, which also helps drive the prices higher.
A city planner told the public meeting that Barrie’s housing affordability crisis doesn’t just affect those making less than minimum wages anymore, citing nurses. And that gradually increasing neighbourhood densities, through second suites and detached accessory dwelling units, will make more rentals available.
Affordable housing is a range of housing types allowing families and individuals, of all income levels, to find suitable places to live without spending a disproportionate percentage of their income on housing. Affordable housing can include ownership, rental or subsidized housing.
The city defines affordable rental housing as a unit for which the rent doesn’t exceed 30 per cent of the gross annual household income for low- to moderate-income households. That income is based upon the most recent Canada Census statistics for Barrie, which is updated every five years.
But none of these definitions help someone — single or with a family — who can’t find a place to live in Barrie without spending three-quarters of their income for a simple roof over their heads.
And none of these definitions help an east-ender who suddenly has no privacy in their back yard because there’s a rental accessory building in their neighbour’s rear yard. Or they can’t see down their street because of all the cars parked on it.
The problem with these problems is the solution isn’t either or.
Some way, somehow the needs of those wanting affordable housing and longtime residents wanting to protect their neighbourhoods have to be reconciled.
This has been a challenge for years in Barrie, and this council has about another year to figure it out before its terms of office expires.
Don’t envy their chances.
Bob Bruton covers city hall for BarrieToday.
