City working to address housing concerns

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on February 7, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The City of Lethbridge is addressing concerns over the recent support  of city council for new housing projects in the London Road area.
Council in January voted to approve several projects that were the subject of public hearings on Dec. 10. Two of those projects, which call for the construction of a pair of 39-unit apartment complexes on 13 Street South, were the focus of considerable opposition from a neighbouring grocery store and other area residents concerned with possible parking issues.
The project developer, Sumus Property Group, has in its plans parking for 0.5 stalls per unit, a matter which the owners of London Road  Market and other property owners feel isn’t enough for all rental units at the two proposed sites.
One building is located on the parcels of land at 537, 539  and 543 13 St. S. The other proposed building is situated at 524, 528  and 532 13 Street South. Both parcels are presently vacant.
While Bylaw 6460, an amendment to the London Road Area Redevelopment Plan regarding 524, 528 and 532 13 St. S., passed unanimously, land use bylaw amendment 6461 was only approved by a 3-2 margin.
The project by the same developer of the site consisting of 537, 539  and 543 13 Street South was also approved by the same 3-2 margin.
Council also voted to approve another development planned for 404 and  408 12 Street South. That project involved a request to rezone properties at those locations to Direct Control to allow for their consolidation and the development of 12 dwelling units to appear as four townhouses with secondary suites, plus a fourplex.
Council gave unanimous approval to another proposed housing project, however. It voted in favour of Bylaw 6464 — Amendment to London Road  Area Redevelopment Plan regarding 605 5 Street South And 510 6 Avenue South and  Bylaw 6465, a land use bylaw amendment for those same properties where Sumus is planning to construct a building similar to the ones  planned for 13 Street.
The City this week sent out a media release discussing the need for more housing here.
Regarding the 13 Street South projects, the City noted there are six  parcels on 13 Street South that have been vacant since the former derelict properties were torn down in 2022. There have been numerous redevelopment inquiries since then.” Those culminated with a development proposal from Sumus.
Sumus’ application to amend the LRARP was in full compliance with the process as outlined and allowed by the Municipal Government Act, says the City.
According to the City, there is a need for more housing in Lethbridge. While home ownership was an attainable goal in the 1980s, the average  price of a home in 2021 was more than seven times the average income compared to three times that income several decades ago.
The median price of a single detached house here rose to $395,000 in 2020 from just $140,000 in  2000, which the City says was a 182 per cent  increase. During that same period, the City says the median family income grew by 102 per cent, to $102,000 from $50,500.
“Looking at recent data, average home prices (i.e., not just single  detached) rose 17.8 per cent from January 2023 to January 2024. This  is much faster than the Canadian average of a 7.6 per cent increase
during the same period,” states the City.
Rental prices here have also increased substantially in recent years as vacancy rates fall. The average rent jumped 44.2 per cent in  the years 2013-23 while the vacancy rate dropped from 4.3 per cent to  2.3 per cent.
“The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) defines rental  housing to be unaffordable if the household spends more than 30 per  cent of their household income on rent. Using this definition, a 2022  report found that while minimum wage in Alberta is $15 per hour, a full-time minimum  wage worker would need to earn $19.62 per hour for  a one-bedroom rental to be affordable, or $21.75 for a two-bedroom  (e.g., a single parent),” states the City.
“Further, the report found this had worsened in the last few years,  with a full-time minimum wage worker needing to work 65 hours in 2018  for a two-bedroom unit to be affordable, but 75 hours in 2022 for the  same.”
In response to questions about whether other  areas could be impacted  by future rezoning applications, the City says its Municipal  Development Plan calls for a balance of building new neighbourhoods on  the fringes of Lethbridge while also accommodating infill developments in appropriate locations within existing neighbourhoods.
Infllls have several benefits including the use of existing  infrastructure and potentially could result in less road congestion compared to building on the fringes, says the City.

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