DIDSBURY - A housing needs assessment conducted at the direction of the Town of Didsbury's council outlines suggested strategic directions for the municipality going forward.
The report was prepared to help understand the current and future state of housing in the community, provide a summary of the most prominent housing-related issues, provide an understanding of what gaps might exist in housing policy and supply, and provide strategies to address gaps in policy and supply.
“As the town continues to develop, the results of this assessment can be used to support future changes to local policy direction with the municipal development plan and inform key directions within future area structure plans (ASP),” the report states.
The assessment project’s $15,000 cost was approved by special motion of council on Sept. 25, 2023.
The assessment outlined a number of strategic directions Town of Didsbury officials might want to consider going forward.
Regarding aligning demographic composition with housing options, the strategic direction calls on the municipality to “continue to coordinate with seniors’ housing providers advocated for continuing investment in opportunities for people to age in place in the community.”
As for diversifying housing stock, the strategic direction states, “As the town evaluates any new area structure plan, or proposed amendment to any existing area structure plan, part of the consideration for evaluating the development concept should include an assessment of how the proposal contributes to diversifying the housing stock.”
Regarding consideration of housing and asset management, the report outlined two strategic directions:
• As part of the emerging asset management practice with the Town of Didsbury, consider mapping clusters of the oldest housing areas to establish a more complete picture of the relationship between tax revenue from residential areas relative to anticipated infrastructure replacement costs.
• When evaluating a new ASP, or proposed amendment to an existing ASP, part of the evaluation associated with diversifying housing options should include an assessment of how the proposed development concept makes a positive contribution to the town’s fiscal health.
Regarding incremental infill development, the report also outlined two strategic directions:
• Establish a vacant lands inventory within core neighbourhoods and create a development suitability prioritization matrix that layers key criteria (i.e., unencumbered, land use in place, ease of access to street/alley, condition of adjacent infrastructure networks, etc.) in a format that illustrates a hierarchy of parcels that can support infill and a gentle increase in density that does not negatively impact adjacent development.
• As the municipality continues to explore citizen and business attraction efforts through a variety of initiatives, part of the strategy should also focus on incremental, small-scale development that can generate strong benefits to the individual neighbourhoods (enhanced housing options) and the town.
Council carried a motion to adopt the needs assessment report as presented.
Council carried a second motion to forward the report to Mountain View Seniors' Housing.
The assessment was based on 2021 population census information.
“I think we can find a way to update this to reflect 2025,” said mayor Rhonda Hunter. “I’d like to find a way to update it to current. It is an important project for our community.”
The complete report can be found on the town’s website.
