Edmonton city council approved a number of changes to its lodging house zoning bylaw Tuesday morning. Lodging houses are now defined as three or more rooms being rented individually inside one dwelling. They may not exceed eight rooms per dwelling and are banned from multi-plexes and row housing. Some community members have voiced concerns about the lodging homes, saying they take up too much street parking, congest traffic and pose a fire risk. But others are concerned that the zoning changes will negatively impact affordable housing for students, a demographic that often rents rooms in lodging houses. “We do want to be accommodating different ways of people living together,” said Ward O-day’min Coun. Anne Stevenson at Tuesday’s meeting. “We have a wide variety of households in our community that have different housing needs, and providing options to facilitate those needs, I think, is critically important.” Jan Hardstaff of the Residential Infill Working Group says the amendments to the bylaw will allow for safer and more responsible lodging house arrangements. “We support increasing density,” Hardstaff told CTV News Edmonton. “But it needs to be done in a manner that doesn’t put undue expectations and burdens and impacts on neighbours in existing communities. It’s not a way to welcome infill.” In her neighbourhood, Park Allen, Hardstaff says there is a development that has ensuite bathrooms and laundry facilities in every bedroom. Amendments to the bylaw are not retroactive and will not impact already approved developments or existing lodging houses. “We need lodging homes. Students need lodging homes. We cannot ignore that reality,” said Mayor Andrew Knack. “We should not be regulating those out of our land use, and we’re not. But we’re going to make sure it’s a bit more defined in our zoning bylaw going forward. Stevenson, who was among two other councillors that did not support the motion, said there were other solutions to concerns that residents have, like implementing traffic calming or loading zones where lodging houses are. “There are a range of other tools that I think are much more appropriate to dealing with this rather than regulating how people are living together,” said Stevenson. Lodging houses require a business licence, locking doors and en-suite bathrooms for each room. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson
