The results of the city’s laneway housing survey are in.
City council wants to encourage more laneway housing and recently conducted an online survey and an open house to gauge public opinion.
Of the 270 survey respondents:
• Sixty-six per cent believe the city should relax its regulations to allow larger laneway houses.
• Sixty-two per cent support relaxing the height restrictions to allow for a second storey.
• Twelve per cent said the city should make no changes.
“Everyone on council was pleased with this response rate,” said the Alex Thumm of the city’s planning department. This is one of our best response rate ever, to an online survey.
“Even on that snowy night, 85 people came to the open house. It was really just 12 to 19 per cent in favour of the current regulations and everyone else had some kind of variation on how we should relax it.”
Laneway houses are typically built in the back yard of an already existing house, opening onto the back lane. They use the main house’s water and sewer hookups.
Nelson’s current zoning bylaw restricts the height of laneway houses to five metres (as opposed to 10 metres for a house) and the footprint to 55 square meters, essentially allowing for a storey and half.
Currently in Nelson a homeowner is allowed to put in a secondary suite or a laneway house, but not both. Current parking requirements in the R1 (low density residential) zone are one off-street space per house with another for a suite or laneway house.
Council has received feedback from builders and residents that current rules are too restrictive.
Other statistics from the survey:
• Eighty-three per cent of respondents support above-garage suites.
• Seventy-six per cent support an increase in allowable density to three units (house, suite, and laneway house).
• Fifteen per cent oppose an increase to density.
• Forty-five per cent support lowering the parking requirement to two spaces per lot, regardless of whether there are one, two, or three units.
• Thirty-two per cent support the current parking requirement.
Detailed survey results along with other information about laneway housing are attached to the online version of this story at nelsonstar.com.
Planning staff recently consulted with the city’s Advisory Planning Committee and with council itself about the surveys, got some guidance, and will be drafting new regulations to be brought to a council meeting in the near future.
Thumm said the survey response “shows that there is certainly an interest in laneway houses. At the open house about half the people said they are interested in building a laneway house. So there is lots of interest in housing and having more of it. They see this as a better alternative than more apartment buildings or condo buildings.”
He said laneway housing is not a full solution to the affordable housing problem, “but as part of a ‘missing middle’ housing choice, it can increase housing diversity in the city and be a solution for those who are over-housed, under-housed, or seeking housing within city limits.“
Related:
Nelson plans public meeting to explore laneway housing (Jan. 2018)
Nelson holds open house on laneway housing (Jan. 2018)
bill.metcalfe@nelsonstar.com
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Laneway Housing Engagement Results by BillMetcalfe on Scribd