More than 12 months after first proposing two new housing developments, the Jasper Community Housing Corporation (JCHC) has updated its plans.
The plan now includes the possibility of developing two new parcels of land near Bear Hill Lodge and redeveloping the land where the RCMP detachment is currently located. The detachment is slated to be rebuilt beside the Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre within the next five years.
The plan also includes developing a parcel of land on Connaught Drive that was part of the original plan, but no longer includes building housing at the 800 block of Turret Street, which is currently Parks Canada housing.
According to CAO Mark Fercho, the JCHC was trying to move forward on both of those sites, but over the past year it became a lower and lower priority for Parks Canada. As a result the future of that parcel of land is no longer being considered by the JCHC as a possible site for development.
Instead, the housing corporation has decided to look at developing three parcels of land to deal with Jasper’s acute housing shortage.
The project is broken down into two phases. The first phase includes a parcel of land along Connaught Drive and near the Bear Hill Lodge.
“You can see in phase one these are two green fields, meaning they have no development so there is nothing preventing us from starting on those sites right away. Both of those sites we’ve had the assessments completed for servicing costs and know the costs are affordable,” Fercho said during a council meeting on May 23.
The second phase, the RCMP site, would only be developed once the new police station is built and the old station is removed, however planning could be completed ahead of that time.
The JCHC report also includes a three point strategy to develop housing.
The first strategy includes a focus on developing the three parcels of land under the housing corporation’s leadership.
In February 2016 the JCHC determined the housing developments would be built to address the staff housing shortage for local businesses and create smaller units for seniors.
“Rather than residential ownership or rentals the objective is around the business community and seniors,” said Fercho.
A month later the municipality invited businesses and seniors to participate in the planning process to gauge public interest, which indicated the need for nearly 300 new accommodations. As a result a list was created with participants agreeing to help pay for a planning consultant.
The second strategy put forward by the housing corporation includes releasing a second parcel of land on Connaught Drive to private developers for residential development. The land in question is adjacent to the proposed mountain bike skills park and the other proposed development site on Connaught Drive.
The free-market approach is an attempt to entice a developer to build housing in the community.
To do so, council would have to formally request Parks Canada to first release the land before private developers could submit development proposals to Parks. With this strategy there would be no ownership or management of the units by the housing corporation and the site would be fully released to the private sector for planning, development and sales.
“Council can set the parameters, but once the developer meets the criteria that was set they get the land, they develop it and it goes to whoever they sell it to,” Fercho said, suggesting criteria could include a requirement to build an apartment style development with micro-units for individuals or family size dwellings.
He cautioned there is a fine line between putting in place too many restrictions or not enough.
“The more restrictions council places on that parcel of land prior to the recommendation for Parks to release it, the less interest there might be from the development community, however we would get something built that meets the objectives of Jasper for the long term,” said Fercho.
On the flip side, he said fewer restrictions could spur development to take place more quickly.
The third strategy by the JCHC focuses on promoting residential development by the private sector in areas already identified in past housing studies.
According to the report, there are several infill sites in the community that could be turned into town homes or apartments, such as removing one of the parking lots at Cavell Court to make room for 20-30 apartments.
Other areas include the Patricia Street walk-ups, Patricia Place, Aspen Gardens and installing residential units above businesses in the downtown core.
“There are opportunities in the downtown core for between 70 and 80 apartments on the second floor,” Fercho said, adding it could also be the quickest way to build new staff housing.
He acknowledged concerns about parking, but added there are some ways to get around it, especially in the downtown core.
“If the business has a parking spot the business could sell or assign the parking spot to the residential development in order to allow the residential development to go ahead,” Fercho said, explaining the business could then purchase a parking spot from the parking authority.
During the meeting, Coun. Gilbert Wall reiterated his regular criticism of Parks Canada that the community needs to have control over land use planning and development.
“I know that I sound like a stuck record on this, but nothing highlights the need for having access to land use planning and development more so than this because we’re sitting here having this conversation and the most important player isn’t in the room and that’s where this falls apart every time,” said Wall.
“It’s nonsensical that we don’t have control over this development process.”
The housing corporation has also opted to make some changes with how it operates to get the ball rolling.
This includes inviting the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce to sit on the housing corporation’s board as a non-voting member, since one of the primarily goals of the development is to create more staff housing.
The JCHC board also intends to follow the Banff Housing Corporation’s lead by retaining control of the management of the property after it’s built, but contract out the detailed design plans and the construction of it.
By doing so, it will help the JCHC access affordable housing grants from the province to help pay for the development.
In Banff the same model recently helped secure $12 million from the province so the municipality could build a $24-million affordable housing project.
The JCHC board has also decided to create a working group of members with specific technical expertise to help move the projects along.
“Following that model is going to be very important for the housing corp. moving forward with these three properties that we’ve identified,” said Fercho. “We should be seeing a lot more progress through 2017 than we’ve seen in the past.”
Paul Clarke | [email protected]
