City Receives Receives Second Funding Installment After Completing Housing Accelerator Fund Action Plan
/The City of Peterborough has completed all seven initiatives under its Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) Action Plan and has received a second funding installment of $2.67 million from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, announced on Tuesday.
Photo courtesy of The City of Peterborough.
The City has received a total of approximately $5.3 million through the federal program, which supports municipalities in creating more housing opportunities by improving planning processes, removing barriers to development and creating healthy, walkable communities.
“The City shares the Government of Canada's goal of increasing the supply and range of housing options available in our community,” said Mayor Jeff Leal. “Through the Housing Accelerator Fund, we've modernized our planning policies, streamlined development approvals and improved how we deliver services. These changes will help support the construction of more homes, including affordable housing, and position Peterborough for future growth.”
The funding recognizes the City’s work to make it easier and faster to build housing, while expanding housing options and supporting the development of more affordable homes.
“The Housing Accelerator Fund rewards local governments for pursuing changes that cut red tape and build more homes faster. HAF encourages local solutions that create more housing options by driving innovation, removing barriers and incentivizing updates to planning systems,” said Emma Harrison, Peterborough-Kawartha MP. “Peterborough proposed an ambitious Housing Action Plan which included rezoning to encourage the creation of missing middle housing, leveraging surplus and underused public land for housing and embracing technology to streamline permitting processes. The City recently received its second HAF installment of nearly $2.7 million, reflecting the successful implementation of its plan.”
The City’s completed initiatives include:
Introducing a city-wide Community Planning Permit By-law to replace the City’s 1972 Comprehensive Zoning By-law and make the development approvals process more efficient;
Reducing or removing residential parking requirements to support more housing options;
Allowing up to four residential units on eligible properties and encouraging missing middle housing, such as townhomes and small apartment buildings;
Launching a public e-permitting portal to make it easier and more efficient to submit and track development applications;
Improving building application processes to support new construction methods and help move housing projects forward more quickly;
Making City-owned land available to support housing development and partnerships that create affordable housing; and
Updating the Community Improvement Plan to provide stronger incentives for affordable housing projects.
