If you’ve ever considered building a basement apartment or secondary unit onto your Collingwood home, a new town program can help you get there, faster.
During Monday’s (Feb. 6) strategic initiatives standing committee meeting, council voted to approve a recommendation pulling up to $217,572 from the town’s affordable housing reserve to start up a rapid accessory dwelling unit deployment program, which seeks to help Collingwood homeowners who want to add an accessory unit on their property.
And the first 20 Collingwood residents who sign up to take part in the pilot program in 2023 will be eligible for more than $40,000 in incentives.
“The Affordable Housing Task Force, in 2021, identified increasing the supply and stock of accessory dwelling units within the Town of Collingwood as one of the quickest ways to improve affordability within our community,” said Clerk Sara Almas in her remarks to councillors.
In Sept. 2022, council was first introduced to the program, and approved it in principle.
According to the presentation on Monday provided by the town’s Housing Development Co-ordinator Jenn Rae, staff are proposing the 2023 version of the program be considered a pilot project, with lessons learned during the pilot incorporated into future years.
“We hope that this will build community champions who understand how citizens can play a vital role in creating more affordable housing and providing more opportunities for folks to live, work and contribute to Collingwood’s social fabric,” said Rae.
An accessory dwelling unit refers to any second, small dwelling on a property with an existing home, and can include units such as basement apartments, a converted garage, or a detached or attached infill unit on a property. The maximum size of an accessory dwelling unit is no more than 40 per cent of the size of the primary unit.
Under the province’s Bill 23 – The More Homes Built Faster Act which was introduced in October 2022, three units are now permitted per lot in many existing residential areas and in new low- to mid-density residential construction where municipal services are available. This change supersedes the town’s Official Plan and zoning bylaws, and also prohibits municipalities from allowing minimum unit sizes or requiring more than one parking space in connection with those units. Additional units are also exempted from development charges and parkland dedication requirements.
Under the new Collingwood pilot program, Rae will work with landowners to ensure all information and applications are complete before applying for zoning certificates and building permits. As part of the program, the town’s building department will be aiming to hit specific timing targets, such as a two-day turnaround on general inquiries, a five-day turnaround for zoning certificates and building permits with pre-approved plans and a 10-day turnaround for building permits without pre-approved plans.
Pre-approved plans will also be available from the town, which will include templates for pre-fabricated/modular homes or stock designs. The town will be putting out a call in the coming months to designers, builders and manufacturers to have their designs featured online.
Financial incentives will be available through the program as well to keep the units affordable and as long-term rentals. During the pilot, the first 20 landowners to receive zoning and building certificate approval will be eligible for up to three different incentives:
- Rapid ADU Grant 1: Upon receiving zoning certificate and building permit approval, landowners who sign an attestation that the unit will be rented out year-round for a minimum of five years will receive a grant of $5,628.62. ($5,000 to offset start-up costs and $625.62 that may be used for certificates and permits)
- County of Simcoe Second Suites Program: Staff will promote the county’s Second Suite Program, which provides a forgivable loan up to $30,000 to homeowners who commit to renting at an affordable rate for 15 years. An affordable rental rate under this program as it stands today is between $993 and $1,192 per month depending on number of bedrooms.
- Rapid ADU Grant 2: The first 20 homeowners approved for the County of Simcoe’s Second Suites Program will receive an additional $5,000 incentive from the Town of Collingwood to acknowledge their commitment to renting at an affordable rate.
If a landowner was successful at receiving all three grants, the total incentive would be $40,628.62.
During discussions on the pilot program, Coun. Chris Potts asked how and if the town would be able to make sure the units created through the program would be rented out at an affordable rate.
“Some of those details are still being worked out,” said Rae. “We’re looking at having an attestation signed that (units) would be kept as year-round rentals.”
Coun. Steve Perry said the program in Collingwood has been a long time coming.
“I think it’s a great program,” he said. “The town certainly needs this.”
Coun. Deb Doherty congratulated Rae on managing to bring the program forward to council so quickly.
Rae noted in her report that after the pilot, the town is hopeful the program can evolve and add other services such as facilitating tenant and landlord education programs, hosting ‘ask the expert’ sessions to help homeowners and connecting the owners of new units with employers to help support Collingwood’s workforce.
“I think this holds our collective feet to the fire, and let’s get this done,” said Coun. Christopher Baines.
The committee voted unanimously in favour of spending up to $217,572 on the pilot program. Mayor Yvonne Hamlin and Coun. Kathy Jeffery were absent from the meeting.
The decision will still need to be ratified during the Feb. 21 meeting of council before going into effect.
UPDATE: During the Feb. 21 regular meeting of council, council voted unanimously in favour of pulling up to $217,572 from the town’s affordable housing reserve to start the rapid accessory dwelling unit deployment program.
