ADDRESSING HOUSING CRISIS

It is comforting to have a proactive mayor addressing the housing crisis. For all its faults, Bill 23 (More Homes Faster) does offer a gateway to cutting through bureaucratic red tape to add more residential units to the landscape.

The emphasis is on single family dwellings and high-density housing but one aspect getting less attention is the provision for ancillary residential buildings (ARBs).

Under the legislation, homeowners will be allowed to create an attached or free-standing residential unit on their property. There will be limitations on size dependent on yard area and size of the existing home. Also, services must be via the main house and not connected separately.

For my wife and I, our main benefit would be security in old age. We do not want to live our lives separated in nursing homes. Stairways are anathema to those with mobility issues so a small single-story house accessible from ground level would allow us to live out our lives together on our property close to our grandkids.

City planners are working on the criteria for ARBs and it is our hope we will see a bylaw passed in the early part of this year.

DAVID SERAFINO ST. CATHARINES