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25 February 2004
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uwstudent.org
Federation of Students 
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University and city debate housing75 metres no longer the issue
Decisions made this year will affect the kind of housing students will have for years to come. A City of Waterloo committee is working on policy that will largely determine the form and location of students housing. The main contention is on density and not specifically on the, now, well known 75 metre spacing restriction on lodging houses in certain zones. Last year the city developed and passed a height and density policy on growth of the size of the city. Height refers to the height of buildings and density to population density. This policy was based on a "nodes and corridors" model. It focuses on increased height and density only at major intersections and along major streets. Policy referring to student housing was not passed, but referred to a committee, the Student Accommodation Study Advisory Committee. The committee and city staff is developing a study that city council will hear this June. Feds President Chris Edey and UW administrator Bud Walker sit on the committee (I also serve on the committee as a representative of UW students). Last week the committee heard and discussed options leading up to the development of the a discussion paper on student housing. Both Edey and Walker are proposing increased density in the area east of the university. This is generally the area between Phillip Street and Hazel Street and between University Avenue and Columbia Street. Dan Currie, policy planner for the city, while pointing out a number of options including the status quo and housing in the city centre, suggests only allowing greater density on the edges of the neighbourhood to preserve it as a low density neighbourhood. These differing solutions may be the central disagreement in deciding what to do to ensure healthy growth of the city and growing university enrolments. Currie said that there is enough space in the corridors to accommodate many years of growth, but Edey and Walker said that it will not be enough. The 75 metre restriction has been around for about 10 years and it has been debated by student leaders for about five years. Since, however, neighbourhoods close to the university already have a high concentration of students, removing it close to the universities is not a long term solution. We now need to determine what will ensure a sufficient supply of safe, affordable and suitable housing for the years to come. |