Jasper officials are anticipating recent land-use policy updates will help address the town’s chronic housing shortage and simplify rules for residents.

The changes, which came into effect February 9, include loosening restrictions on accessory dwelling units and increasing the maximum height of apartment buildings from three to four stories. Residential parking requirements were untouched.

Beth Sanders, director of Urban Design and Standards for the Municipality of Jasper, said the changes would not affect anyone who already had their permits approved.

“We’ll see some things for any new construction, but of course, we know construction takes a while,” Sanders said. “It’ll be many years before we see the fruits of our labour on this front.”

Following three rounds of engagement last spring, municipal administration presented 15 recommendations. Council ultimately decided to support 12 of them. Parks Canada wanted broader consultation on two recommendations but endorsed the remaining 10, leading to the recent amendments.

The amendments allow accessory dwelling units in more residential zones and simplified policies dealing with accessory buildings. Homeowners can also have one garage suite and one garden suite, whereas previously only one of the two were allowed.

The maximum site coverage of all garage suites, garden suites and accessory buildings—which had varied between residential districts—is now 20 per cent across the board.

As for allowing a fourth story on apartment buildings, Sanders said she had not heard any public feedback since the rule came into effect but suspected the municipality may hear concerns, such as unease with the impact to Jasper’s skyline, when a specific development comes forward.

The affordable housing development along Connaught Drive is slated to have three stories, although the slope of the parcel will make the 40-unit apartment building appear as two stories from street level.

Residential developments will still be required to have one parking stall per primary dwelling unit. Council had decided against eliminating this rule after hearing concerns from residents that the measure would only worsen Jasper’s limited parking.

The new rules, however, established criteria for evaluating parking exemption requests from larger-scale residential projects.

“If the proponent wants to vary or reduce the number of parking spaces, then what we’re going to look for are some tangible improvements for active transportation,” Sanders said. “For example, if they want to have fewer parking stalls for vehicles, then we’re going to be looking for an increase in really good-quality bicycle parking as a tradeoff.”

No more major changes to the land-use policy are anticipated for the foreseeable future, although Sanders said municipal staff are regularly working with Parks Canada to improve permit turnaround times and simplify the language for residents.

The Municipality is still in the process of taking over land-use authority from Parks Canada. Sanders emphasized the updates to the land-use policy were written in a way so they wouldn’t require updating once the transition was complete.

“Our priority right now, of course, is supporting everybody who’s rebuilding and making sure that they’re getting the permits that they need in a timely fashion,” she said.

Peter Shokeir, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter // info@thejasperlocal.com