Windsor looks at an increasing urban density to save costs

Plans to change Windsor’s Official Plan and strengthen urban density went into high gear Monday night — after seven years in the making.

The Development and Heritage Standing Committee is asking the city planner to provide options for amending the Official Plan that will “further enhance and strengthen densification and intensification.” They want a response before the end of the year.

Ward 4 Coun. Chris Holt made the motion after a lengthy discussion about a staff report, which he requested seven years ago.

“We need to budge the needle on this, we need to move forward on this,” said Holt.

Committee members want the report to include timelines, funding, and resource options to update the Official Plan.

The motion also included a request for the city planner to give options for design charettes — quick and intensive workshops — with community leaders to help citizens visualize the possibilities.

The workshops would provide “a vision for a complete community city block that would capture the very best of global place-making practices when certain density thresholds are achieved,” according to Holt’s motion.

He made the motion following a discussion of a staff report he asked for as a rookie councillor in 2014. After reading a 2005 report from Halifax looking at the cost of different “settlement patterns,” Holt wanted to know what it would take for a similar study in Windsor.

“I thought it was great information for a municipal councillor to have,” he said. “That way they can make educated decisions on how best to build our communities. We’re always looking to save a buck. We’re always telling the administration to cut 10 percent from the budget. Then there’s this idea out there that we could just alter the way we actually build our communities and save significant funds.”

City of Windsor staff state in the report it took so long to respond because of internal resource issues and difficulty reaching people in Halifax who worked on the 2005 study.

The report is essentially a review of the 2005 Halifax study, which found that high- and mid-density settlement patterns have lower annual service costs per household than low-density patterns.

For a typical household in a low-density area, with 16 people per acre, Halifax’s estimated annual cost for services in 2005 was $3,462. For a high-density area, with 92 people per acre, the cost was $1,416.

The staff report points out that given the age of the Halifax study, current costs will likely be different.

It also notes that similar studies have been conducted in various cities including Edmonton, Calgary, and Oklahoma City, with the consistent conclusion that high density is more cost-efficient. The report goes on to say a Windsor study would likely yield the same results.

There appeared to be little will on the part of committee members to go down that road.

“It’s pretty clear what the evidence is,” said Ward 10 Coun. Jim Morrison. “Do we need to duplicate this report?”

Instead of insisting on another similar study that would cost money and likely take years to complete, Holt suggested a more expedient option.

“Moving right to an Official Plan amendment versus just another report to talk about,” he said.