WHEREAS there is the strong urgent need to improve the availability of affordable housing in the City of Brantford and County of Brant; and
WHEREAS publicly owned lands appropriate for housing development within the City of Brantford and County of Brant are limited; and
WHEREAS acquiring additional, development-ready lands is unduly costly; and
WHEREAS infill development and urban intensification are desirable to reduce infrastructure costs and promote walkable communities; and
WHEREAS maximizing the building heights and density of municipally-led affordable housing developments to increase the number of units constructed, can assist both municipalities in meeting their housing goals; and
WHEREAS our strategy for large scale affordable housing builds to ensure complete communities is to fill out builds with units that are across the spectrum of fully subsidized to market rate rental house, and that this strategy has been effective;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
THAT the City of Brantford and County of Brant commit to fully EXPLORE opportunities to increase height and density of municipally–led residential affordable housing projects, where appropriate; and
THAT the City of Brantford and County of Brant DIRECT staff to require future municipally–led affordable housing developments that sit on sufficient lands, meet traffic study requirements, and have sufficient servicing to have an initial build design presented that is a minimum of 10 stories in height, and surpass that height where possible; and
THAT the City of Brantford and County of Brant DIRECT staff to require these aforementioned taller builds have units across the affordability and attainability spectrum, to ensure a complete internal community, in addition to their addition to the larger community of the neighbourhood that they reside in; and
THAT the City of Brantford and County of Brant look for opportunities to implement the housing goals contained in the City of Brantford and County of Brant Official Plans, the Brantford-Brant Housing Stability Plan and any other relevant plans and policies regarding land use, intensification, and residential development