Jasper council is considering an incentive program to assist homeowners in adding an accessory dwelling to their property for long-term rental.
On Tuesday (April 8), council’s committee of the whole recommended that council approve the program and the associated policy, subject to minor amendments.
“This is a great idea to incentivize the creation of additional living units for residents within our community,” said Mayor Richard Ireland.
The program is estimated to create 30 additional net new units over a three-year period. It is one of the eight strategic actions in the Housing Action Plan, which aims to create 240 net new units pre-wildfire and an annual housing supply growth rate of 17 per cent.
The $9.4 million recently promised to Jasper through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund will allow the municipality to disperse $30,000 grants to eligible applicants for developing a net new accessory dwelling on their property, and $10,000 to convert a previously constructed but unpermitted accessory dwelling to a permitted unit.
In total, $780,000 has been allocated to this program. Grants would typically be limited to one per property and given on a first-come, first-served basis.
“There is no preference in the selection or division of funds between net new accessory dwellings and previously constructed and permitted accessory dwellings,” said Leanne Pelletier, municipal housing manager.
Eligible expenses would include the cost to meet Alberta building code requirements and costs associated with construction such as design, permitting and engineering fees.
Funding will not be provided for items that have a high range of discretion, such as appliances or furniture.
Pelletier said municipal administration and Parks Canada were working to finalize an enforcement mechanism to ensure these units are only used for residential long-term use and not private home accommodations (PHAs) that are typically utilized by tourists.
Ireland asked why the program gave $30,000 for new dwellings but only $10,000 to convert an unpermitted one.
“I would think that we might want to incentivize people, for example, that wanted to convert a PHA that is existing but doesn't perhaps have fire separation to convert that to residential use,” he said.
Pelletier replied that the costs were expected to be lower for renovating an unpermitted unit that already existed, rather than creating a unit from scratch, but noted administration could reexamine that assumption.
Ireland also asked if they could incentivize environmentally friendly or energy-efficient builds through this program.
Beth Sanders, director of urban design and standards, replied that this would fall under the clean energy improvement program, so residents could “double up” the grants on their construction project.
