The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is taking several steps to address its housing crisis, including considering additional detached dwellings on agriculturally zoned properties.
At their meeting Monday night, Council will be asked to approve public consultation to allow additional detached houses on properties in rural areas and land division in rural areas for the purpose of residential development.
The municipality said the intent is to create new policies to increase residential housing while prioritizing the needs of agricultural operations and the protection of agricultural lands.
"This direction sets out two paths to increasing opportunities to add new housing in rural areas, particularly on properties currently zoned for agricultural or agricultural related uses," said CK Director of Planning Services Ryan Jacques. "Such opportunities may include the further utilization of existing non-farm lots where there exists conducive site characteristics and service levels and where the conversion of lands to productive farmland is less practical."
In his report to Council, Jacques noted there must be clearly defined Official Plan policies and Zoning regulations put in place if changes are implemented to avoid long term negative outcomes.
He also noted Prime Agricultural Lands are highly protected and the division of lands in these areas for residential uses is limited to dwellings surplus to a farming operation.
Jacques said recommendations will be presented to Council for consideration in the Fall.
Meanwhile, administration is also asking Council to start the process of building a 5-unit family affordable housing development at 24-28 Redwood Crescent in Chatham and a 6-unit family affordable housing development on Eugenie Street in Chatham at an estimated cost of $4.6 million for the 11 units.
The new development is comprised of a mixture of affordable, deeply affordable, and attainable market units on two vacant and underutilized municipally owned land parcels in Chatham, according to CK Director of Municipal Housing Development Ray Harper.
In a report to Council, Harper noted the community has experienced increasing need for multi-bedroom family units and this two-storey development would help ease the pain because it has three three-bedroom and two four-bedroom units.
Harper said Chatham-Kent’s Centralized Waiting List (CWL) of households in need of affordable housing increased by 50 from 1,103 to 1,153 households in May 2024. He listed 18 per cent or 125 are family households in need of three and four-bedroom units, 17 per cent or 116 are adults needing two-bedroom units, 21 per cent or 149 are seniors needing one-bedroom units, and 44 per cent or 304 are adults needing one-bedroom units.
"If this degree of growth continues, Chatham-Kent could be at an unprecedented 1,300 households on the CWL by the end of 2024. With a population of approximately 45,171 people, Chatham is the largest urban centre located in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. At present, 60% of the 1,153 current households on the waiting list are looking for units in Chatham," he said.
Administration is also asking for the green light to hire a consultant to complete a Housing Needs Assessment for Chatham-Kent. The assessment would help the municipality reach its housing goals.
"Administration has access to data from sources such as the Centralized Waiting List and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to help determine the number and composition of households in need of affordable housing in Chatham-Kent. Unfortunately, much of the data Administration has access to represents the entirety of Chatham-Kent as a whole. This data does not provide enough information to what the housing needs are for specific communities throughout Chatham-Kent," said Harper.
He noted this is the first time that Chatham-Kent is undertaking a comprehensive study of housing affordability.
The price tag for the assessment process can range between $35,000 and $70,000 and will take up to three months to complete after the contract is awarded.