Saugeen Shores is adopting guidelines for housing construction to meet the needs of the town.
Mayor Luke Charbonneau says the guidelines council adopted during its June 19 meeting for urban existing neighbourhoods sets out building intensification guidelines for areas already developed.
By building intensively, Charbonneau says it means having people live in less space by building apartment buildings, duplexes and fourplexes.
“We need to do it in order to protect our local environment because the less intensively we build, the more we sprawl, and the more we sprawl means we have build in areas where may be we don’t want to build like in forested areas or on farmland,” says Charbonneau. “So we build more intensively to protect our environment and we build more intensively to have more people living in the area that we already have developed, and by doing that, we hopefully lower the per unit cost of housing as well.”
A report from Manager of Planning and Development Jay Pausner says the town hosted a virtual open house to receive input from residents on the draft guidelines. Comments were received on a number of topics including the character of Saugeen Shores and small town charm, beach communities, and affordable housing.
Following the consultations, changes were made to the draft to highlights sustainability and retention of environmental features, by putting a greater emphasis on ensuring existing vegetation is better maintained and the use of native species for landscaping.
Additionally, the idea of small town charm was included in the final draft. The feedback received identified more effort was needed in the visual impacts of neighbourhoods.
Charbonneau says to maintain the charm of Saugeen Shores, it would include having local plantlife and greenspaces, the types of materials used in building housing, and having parking that is consistent with keeping the feel of local streets.
“A lot of things are included in making sure that we are maintaining that small town charm or character of the community and all those things are covered in these intensification guidelines,” says Charbonneau.
He adds these guidelines are the only current ones on the books right now, but more could be considered in the future.