I just finished reading The Affordability and Choice Today Guide for Developers and Planners . The ACT acronym is a bit unfortunate for K iwis since we associated it with a centre right political party! However, what’s in a name the bard would say!!To avoid confusion for kiwis I’ll use A.C.T as the acronym for this program.
The leading idea for the entire program is to improve affordability and choice in housing (rental or ownership, or both) through regulatory reform. In this particular document (one of many published resources on the website actprogram.com ) development standards (regulation) are tackled and a number of “alternatives” suggested.
How relevant is this to the secondary suite debate here in New Zealand? It’s more about new building and larger scale inner city/suburban rennovation standards than conversions of existing household stock…but it begins to address the factors which planners in NZ will want to see addressed. But at a more general level, besides discussing general and specific standard, it provides some wonderful case studies of communities in Canad that have implemented some alternatives to conventional regulation of housing development(s). Being able to observe something in practice helps overcome the general conservatism of city/municipal planners, and to some extent developers. The document rightly points out that most planning standards were determined in the 50’s (or earlier) when land was cheap, the w.a.s.p. nuclear family was a dominant cultural ideal , and environmental awareness was, well, low or non-existent! In many modern cities – take earthquake devastated Christchurch or Auckland (rents land and housing prices skyrocketing…as per Vancouver and Toronto) – these “contextual” factors have all been turned upside down, completely. Multiculturalism, large and growing immigrant populations, expensive land, high rents, and a deep consciousness of environmental issues and amenities are the new context. And A.C.T asks (and begins to answer) sensible questions about how to remove regulatory barriers to affordable housing in this changed environment.
The table of contents, which I have shamelessly copied over for you below, gives an idea of what specific topics this document addresses. But as important as the detail is here – about parking , about water, about storm-water, about sewage etc etc – there is a general philosophy that recognizes that these alternatives have to sold: developers have to have incentives to embrace them, city planners have to be motivated to risk implementing them, and Everyman and Everywoman have to be have incentives to try something new.
INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………………….. 2
• About this guide
• What are alternative development standards?
• Benefits of alternative development standards
• Barriers and success strategies
BUILDING LOTS ……………………………………………………………………………….. 6
• Lot size
• Lot configuration
• Lot distribution
STREETS AND PARKING ……………………………………………………………….. 9
• Street layout
• Right-of-way dimensions
• Streetscape design
• Parking for single-family dwellings
• Parking for multiple-family and mixed-use developments
STORMWATER AND SERVICING …………………………………………………. 14
• Stormwater management
• Utilities and services
• Sewage treatment
RESOURCES …………………………………………………………………………………….. 18