All topics Housing Getting Around Climate Food Growth & Planning Budget & Taxes

Jamie Hari

City/Township Council · Waterloo

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All topics Housing Getting Around Climate Food Growth & Planning Budget & Taxes
This candidate finalized their responses after this guide and scoring methodology was published.

Growth & Planning

How should councils weigh the long-term cost of maintaining existing infrastructure when making decisions about outward growth and expansion?ranked from highest to lowest importance
  1. Prioritize infill and intensification where infrastructure
  2. Limit outward growth unless full lifecycle infrastructure
  3. Require detailed cost and risk analysis before approving
  4. Use development phasing tied to infrastructure capacity
  5. Proceed with outward growth to address housing supply
How should councils balance provincial and regional mandates for increased housing density with neighbourhood opposition and local infrastructure constraints?select up to 4 per part
A. Planning & zoning tools
  • Expand as-of-right zoning to reduce case-by-case political decisions on housing forms
  • Focus incremental density near transit, schools, and commercial areas
  • Allow small-scale housing forms city-wide as-of-right (e.g. up to four units per lot)
  • Eliminate parking minimum requirements
B. Managing neighbourhood opposition
  • Use public engagement to inform design, not to veto density
  • Proceed with adopted plans when facing local NIMBY opposition
C. Infrastructure & servicing
  • Approve density where infrastructure capacity already exists
  • Pair density approvals with targeted infrastructure upgrades
  • Use development charges or conditions to fund needed upgrades

Describe one concrete zoning, planning, or development decision you would support (or oppose) that reflects how you would balance these priorities.candidate's own words

A big part of our water infrastructure issues is sprawl. Transit corridors should prioritize public use and dense residential, not more McMansions.

Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on growth?candidate's own words

We can't and shouldn't tell people where to live, but we can prohibit wealthy corporations and individuals from taking far more than is sustainable or than they even need.

What can the municipality/region do, if anything, about land which sits vacant for years because it is being used as an investment (land banking)?candidate's own words

While it's currently impractical to entirely stop contracting public works to private industry, we can tighten up contracts significantly with developers who consistently overcharge, under-deliver, and get away with no accountability. Similarly, while we can't ban landlords, I would propose making it far less profitable to speculate undeveloped and underdeveloped land in the city with vacancy taxes and increase civic pressure with a public land registry.