Guidance Paper: Gentle Density & Infrastructure

This Small Housing Guidance Paper presents recommendations that will assist various actors involved in planning for and financing growth related infrastructure, especially as it relates to new gentle density development.

With Provincial policy set to increase development potential as-of-right in many residential areas, Small Housing – with support from consulting firms Urban Systems and ECONorthwest – convened a roundtable discussion to explore the relationship between gentle density housing types and local infrastructure.

This Guidance Paper presents recommendations that will assist various actors involved in planning for and financing growth related infrastructure, especially as it relates to new gentle density development. It provides background information and identifies challenges and recommendations in seven key areas:

1. Development finance tools
2. Local government capacity and understanding
3. Other order of government funding
4. Water and fire protection
5. Sewer system capacity
6. Stormwater management, and
7. Electrification

Key insights:

• The Province may consider a phased implementation of the Homes for People legislation. The first phase may be applied to areas of the community that have known infrastructure sufficiency, access to transit, and are not located in sensitive or hillside areas, until infrastructure impacts are better understood and regulations can be put in place.
• Local governments have expressed a desire to “speak a common language” when it comes to implementing the new legislation. It is recommended that the Province provide guidance for infrastructure and development planning with consistent definitions for communities throughout; including land use definitions, development standards, road standards, etc.
• Throughout the roundtable discussion, it became clear that additional planning and consultation needs to occur between government and other sectors who will be involved in implementing Homes for People.