Sweeping zoning changes in Whitehorse could permit dense housing, more garden suites

Denser housing could be coming to the Yukon's capital. 

Whitehorse city council voted in favour of sweeping zoning changes that would allow as many as four units per lot in areas currently dominated by single, detached-style homes. 

At the first reading on Monday night, councillors unanimously supported the re-worded zoning bylaw. The bylaw still has to go through several more steps before it is officially approved.

But some remarked on how important it will be to hear from the public. 

Coun. Dan Boyd said the amendments were "really significant changes that are going to have a very huge impact."

"Public consultation on this, getting it out to the community, is extremely important," Boyd said. "I'm going to be slow to agree to this at third reading if we haven't achieved that level of consultation as needed."

Ted Laking, another city councillor, agreed.

"I see these as probably the biggest single amendments to our zoning bylaw in at least my time of homeownership in the community," he said. 

The change would affect housing lots classified as RCS, RCS2, RCS3, RD, RR, RS or RS2 — which covers most of Whitehorse.

At the moment, only some of those zones allow duplexes, triplexes or multiple units.

Developers wanting to build up multiple units on a property would still need to prove the infrastructure can cope.

An administrative report provided to the council advises "the capacity of existing services, including water, sewer, and electrical, may constrain the number of units that can be provided on particular lots."

The council also plans to relax the rules around living and garden suites, minimum yard sizes and parking spaces.

Under the updated zoning bylaw, property owners would have the ability to build up to two garden suites on their property in the front or side yards. 

Properties that previously required a "rear yard setback" of at least six metres — the gap between the back of the house and the back of the section — would only be required to have a three-metre gap. 

Properties previously required to have a three-metre rear yard setback would only be required to leave 1.5 metres. 

The changes are aimed at easing the housing shortage by encouraging "a wider range of opportunities" for residential development.

Homelessness in the Yukon capital has been trending well above population growth, while renters have described soaring prices.

'We can't solve the housing crisis with duplexes and fourplexes'

Michael Hale, CEO of Northern Vision Development, described the North as a "tough environment to build."

"You have a shorter building season. You have limited labour capacity, limited construction capacity and costs are higher," Hale said.

"So the city probably has to work harder than other municipalities do to incentivize builders and developers." 

He said he was pleased to see the council removing hurdles. 

"For any builder or developer, if you can get more square footage on a lot, you can probably lower your prices of building and you can certainly lower your prices of land and parking for any development," Hale said. 

He said the changes could help with a small portion of the housing need. 

"But if we're going to get serious about addressing housing requirements, we're going to have to start having conversations about much higher density. And much higher density won't happen on single family lots. It's going to be multi [residential]. That's how we're going to get through the housing crisis. We can't solve the housing crisis with duplexes and fourplexes." 

Whitehorse residents appear to be mostly in favour of denser housing. 

Before drafting the bylaw updates, the city carried out an engagement survey late last year.

It asked 349 people to share their level of support for allowing more units per lot across existing and new neighbourhoods.

Seventy-three per cent indicated they strongly supported or supported that idea, with some commenting on the potential benefits for housing supply, affordability and "walkability" in Whitehorse. 

Seventeen per cent indicated they did not support or strongly did not support the change. 

Some commented the current infrastructure wouldn't keep up and dwellings would become too crowded, and that yards were important for children to play in and space to garden.

The city said it will likely be asking the public for more feedback on the proposed changes next month.