Mayor Tom Mrakas said only the only way Aurora can hit its affordable housing threshold price is to “use tax dollars.”
He made the comment when council was discussing a proposal for a community planning permit system — which would streamline the town’s development approval process in its historic downtown — during its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
Councillor Wendy Gaertner asked if the system would require the building of affordable housing units.
Marco Ramunno, the town’s planning director, said an affordable housing requirement is one of the considerations, but the details are still being worked out, with public consultation still to come.
“We know that developers do not want to do affordable housing, so I hope that we can meet that challenge,” said Gaertner.
In response, Mrakas asked Ramunno about the average cost per square foot for building housing in Aurora.
“If we're talking about mid-rise buildings, apartment buildings, we’re hearing the cost is $1,200 to $1,400 a square foot to construct, all in,” said Ramunno. That means units would have to be around 400 to 500 feet to meet the town’s affordable price threshold, he noted.
“The challenge there is the price thresholds and whether they can actually be met by new developments,” he added.
The town’s affordable housing action plan, approved by council in December, set the price of an affordable house, based on 30 per cent of a median family’s income of $135,000, at $509,000.
“I think most people are starting to realize, unless we have intervention from the federal, provincial government, even from the regional government, being able to provide tax dollars, to subsidize to bring it below market value, you’re never going to achieve that target price,” Mrakas said.
“The cost of the units are going to be market-driven, and the only way to bring it below that is for us to use tax dollars, to bring it below,” he added. “It can be done, but we need to have an honest conversation about that’s what we’re going to do.”
The community planning permit system would streamline planning approvals in Aurora’s historic downtown core, in a bid to encourage development there.
Ramunno said it would combine three separate applications — zoning, site plan and minor variance — into one. Staff presented the idea to council during its committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
While the exact boundaries will be hashed out, town staff are looking at applying the system to developments around Yonge Street, from Wellington Street south to Church Street.
During the Jan. 14 meeting, Ramunno said the system could be extended to other parts of the Aurora promenade in the future.
The report was received by council, and staff will start working on the system with an eye to holding public consultation, including a public meeting in the second quarter of 2025, according to a staff report.
The goal would be to finish the project and bring forward a bylaw in the fourth quarter of 2025 or early 2026.