Iqaluit planning committee backs higher building height limits in core
A plan to increase building height limits in parts of Iqaluit’s core area has the backing of the city’s planning and development committee.
If the change is approved by council, developers would be able to plan buildings of up to four to six storeys in select areas without requesting a variance, said Samantha Toffolo, the city’s contract planner, at Tuesday night’s committee meeting.
Maps provided by city staff to the committee identified areas where height restrictions would be increased.
On the ATCO loop block along Queen Elizabeth Way between Northmart and Arctic Ventures — where several derelict, unoccupied homes now sit — the new restriction would raise the height limit to four storeys from the current limit of three.
The city is currently looking at building new housing on those lots.
An area south of Allannguaq Street, where the Chartroom and the beer and wine store are located, would also see a height increase from three storeys to four.
The plan would also see an area west of Queen Elizabeth Way and north of Northmart have height restrictions increased from three to five storeys.
Coincidentally, the committee granted a development permit for a planned four-storey building in that area at Tuesday’s meeting. However, because the proposed new height restrictions are not yet in effect, the committee had to grant a variance to allow that project to go forward.
Finally, in an area between Astro Hill and Queen Elizabeth Way, the proposed new restrictions would allow construction of buildings up to six storeys in height.
Speaking to councillors, Toffolo said increased height restrictions are in line with the city’s goals to provide more housing by building higher in those areas.
She said the city is working with the fire department to assess emergency services’ ability to handle increased housing density and taller buildings.
As well, water infrastructure capacity may limit what can be built.
“Although height increases are intended to be aligned with current or planned sewer infrastructure upgrades, there is the chance that development potential in these areas will be limited,” she said.
After Toffolo’s presentation, Coun. Kyle Sheppard praised city staff’s work in putting the plan together using funding and resources provided through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund.
Earlier this year, the federal government contributed $8.9 million through the fund to speed up development of 160 housing units in Iqaluit over three years.
“It’s really impressive to see the work being done to move some of these critically important things forward,” Sheppard said.
“I like the layout, I like the design of this.”
Coun. Romeyn Stevenson questioned why the new proposed five-storey height restriction area did not include other parts of the city, including the east side of Queen Elizabeth Way.
“We were looking at areas that we foresaw development potential in the future, in the more immediate future,” Toffolo said.
“We could take this back and look at how we could incorporate height increases that respect the Capital District zone, as well as the potential of height increases along the eastern side of Queen Elizabeth Way.”
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the bylaw. From there, it will be heard at a future city council meeting.
Deputy Mayor Kim Smith, who chairs the planning committee, told reporters after the meeting that taller, densified buildings located close to schools and grocery stores are a “good idea” for Iqaluit.
“I’m always going to be in support of densification, as long as it’s done properly, with neighbourhoods being taken into consideration,” she said.
“We can’t just densify without thinking about the overall impact to a community.”
Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News
