Waterloo proposes plan to rezone churches for residential housing

Waterloo wants to make it easier for churches to sell off land for new housing developments. CTV’s Karis Mapp explains.

Waterloo is considering a zoning change to make it easier for places of worship to build on or sell their unused land for low-rise housing projects.

“Faith-based properties across Canada, and even broader, tend to have some large parcels of land that have existed for a long period of time, and they may have additional land on their property that they’re not utilizing,” explained Adam Lauder, the city’s manager of community planning. “What we are looking to do is remove that planning barrier so that those faith-based properties, if they wish to utilize those permissions, don’t have to go through the planning process.”

City staff have proposed rezoning the properties to Residential Mixed Use, which allows for apartment buildings and stacked townhouses up to six storeys tall.

“[It] is intended to provide enhanced land use permissions and land use flexibility,” Brenna MacKinnon, the manager of development planning for the Region of Waterloo, explained at a council meeting on Monday night.

Fourteen faith-based locations, ranging in size from one acre to five acres, have are currently being considered:

• Messiah Lutheran Church
• Trinity Evangelical Missionary Church
• Church Of The Holy Saviour
• Our Lady Of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church
• First Baptist Church
• St. Louis Roman Catholic Church
• St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church
• Waterloo Christian Reformed Church
• Verity Community Church
• Church Of God (German)
• Parkminster United Church
• Mount Zion Lutheran Church
• Waterloo Mennonite Brethren Church
• Waterloo-Kitchener United Mennonite Church

“That’s what we’re called to do as Christians”

The idea is not a new one in Waterloo.

Several years ago, All Saints Anglican Church at 400 Northfield Drive sold off two acres to a developer.

“We had three acres of land, massively underutilized in the heart of the city,” explained Rev. Marty Levesque, from All Saints’ Anglican Church and Sidewalk Community Centre.

Seventy-six townhouses were built on those two acres in 2023.

“We have some parishioners who have joined who [live] in the condos,” Levesque said. “And it brought a new type of housing to Lakeshore North which was needed. It’s sort of that missing middle. It’s been a bonus for the neighborhood as well as for us here [at the church].”

The money from the sale was then used to build a 1,113-squre-metre (or 12,000-square-foot) community centre.

“[All Saints Anglican Church] has weekly dance, yoga and basketball sessions for the community and really have strengthened themselves as a community hub in their neighborhood,” Lauder noted.

The city hoped rezoning could pave the way for similar developments, a sentiment shared by Levesque.

“That’s what we’re called to do as Christians,” the priest explained. “This idea of making sure that sure that everyone has a home, that basic dignity.”

Proposed changes

Streamlining the process will reduce the cost and time churches spent on securing approvals.

“What we are looking to do is remove that planning barrier so that those faith-based properties, if they wish to utilize those permissions, don’t have to go through the planning process,” Lauder said. “There’s been a lot of focus on housing. Some of the low-rise housing forms that are contemplated in the zoning amendment are townhomes, stack townhomes and, what we call the missing middle or low-rise apartments.”

The money generated from these projects could then be used to build “third spaces,” following the precedent set by All Saints Anglican Church.

“Third spaces are informal, accessible community gathering spots distinct from where you live and where you may work,” MacKinnon explained. “Third spaces may help congregations diversify their sources of income while maintaining worship and community activities.”

Some examples include community centres, cafés, pharmacies or childcare centres.

“[Faith-based organizations are] increasingly looking to fulfill their mission in a way that brings on some additional uses on the property,” added Lauder.

Rezoning pushback

The proposal is getting mixed reviews from the community.

Protest signs have already popped up on the lawn at Church of God on Middlebury Drive.

“Protect our community. NO to rezoning amendment,” it reads. “Preserve residential character. Stop overdevelopment. Vote NO.”

It also linked to an online petition, which had generated at least 430 signatures as of Tuesday morning.

Sherry Wolf, meantime, took her concerns directly to the city.

“I have serious concerns about the process being used here,” she said at Monday night’s meeting. “I work in residential construction and, in my experience, when a developer seeks rezoning on a variance they must submit detailed plans, studies, analysis, traffic, servicing, design impacts and public consultation. It is the process that ensures clarity, feasibility of the land and the community.”

Wolf’s main concern was the grouping of all the properties together.

“Every site is unique, every neighborhood is unique,” she explained. “And yet, one zoning approach is being applied across all 14 [properties]. I understand the need for housing, but I don’t understand the why. Why is this beginning with long-standing institutions of worship? Why not focus on vacant land, commercial land, undersized plazas or underutilized plazas, and large-surface parking lots that have fewer neighborhood impacts. Once zoning is changed, the character of these sites is permanently altered and, in many ways, so are the pressures that follow.”

The proposed project stems from the province’s Housing Accelerator Fund.

“It’s really focused on seeking out innovative approaches to planning and responding to the housing crisis, as well as streamlining different aspects of the planning system,” Lauder explained.

Another question Wolf had was the approval process for new developments.

“Places of worship are not simple real estate. They are part of a social and moral fabric of our communities that provide community support and meaning across generations. It is not the role of the city to reimagine these institutions before the congregations themselves choose to do so.”

Mary Ehnis was also a delegate at Monday night’s meeting. She said one of the factors behind her decision to move to the Westvale neighbourhood one year ago was the green space.

“[My husband] and I want to protect that and support sustainable housing in the region, where the infrastructure is designed to support that,” she explained, adding, “These neighbourhoods were not designed for that by the developers.”

Ehnis pointed out that All Saints volunteered to sell their two acres of land.

“It was in full consultation with their congregation, a very transparent process,” she said.

Ehnis and her husband learned about the city’s rezoning proposal by word of mouth.

“Communication has been lacking in transparency, in some cases lacking at all, and it’s deeply concerning,” she told CTV News.

Next steps

Waterloo is still in the early stages of the process.

City staff have assessed and recommended the properties for council’s consideration.

“We did send a number of letters to all of the faith-based organizations, looking to understand their desires, as well as informing them of the work that was coming forward,” Lauder said.

The city is still reviewing staff’s rezoning recommendation and wants to hear from the community. They said engagement sessions will be held throughout the summer to discuss the proposed changes, with a final recommendation presented to council in the fall.