WATERLOO — Waterloo politicians are concerned that developers are skirting density rules by including dens in their projects that can later be converted to bedrooms.
"Allowing dens has given the development industry a way around our community's density and parking requirements," Coun. Mark Whaley said.
On Monday, council voted unanimously to defer a decision on a 16-storey, 92-unit condo project at 131 University Ave.
It's sandwiched between the two university campuses and is intended to house students.
The project is at the maximum density allowed for the site according to city rules. The units are supposed to include one bedroom, but 82 also include dens.
In recent months, politicians and some community members have raised concerns about the 'plus-den' projects. They worry those dens later get used as bedrooms.
Bedrooms are also used to calculate the amount of required parking for a project. The project on University Avenue proposes 24 spaces, a rate of .25 parking spaces per bedroom.
"We have to have a pause to allow council and staff and the community to have the conversation on questions of true density, true parking requirements and what we want as a community going forward," Whaley said.
It's uncertain how many projects with dens have been converted.
Cameron Rapp, the city's commissioner of integrated planning and public works, said in an interview there are at least a few and the evidence, mostly gathered from how projects are advertised, is anecdotal.
"There's enough indicators out there that it's worth trying to understand better for certain," he said.
Laura Dewar, city development planner, said staff wanted to include a clause in the development approval that would stipulate dens can't be converted.
But it would be for naught.
"There really would be no opportunity for us to enforce the change in use from a den to a bedroom," said chief building official Ralph Kaminski.
He said the city would have some enforcement options by changing its bylaws to count dens as bedrooms when calculating the density of a project.
The city's rental housing licensing bylaw, which allows for access by officials, does not apply to apartment buildings.
Kristen Barisdale of GSP Group, agent for 131 University Inc., said there aren't plans to convert the dens.
"The intent is to market these as one bedrooms and that is the demand that is being received from the market right now with regards to student accommodation," she said.
Trying to legislate intent is one of the challenges, Rapp said.
"I do want to get a handle on intent," he said. "When council believes and the community believes there will be a certain capacity or number of population in a structure then how do we help ensure that is adhered to?"
The city has a review underway of its zoning bylaw that could address the den issue.
Other cities count dens as bedrooms when they calculate density. Rapp said the city will explore various legislation that could help the city get a handle on dens.
No date has been set for council to decide on the project. That could land the city at the Ontario Municipal Board, which decides land planning disputes.
Rapp said staff will try to work with the developer to sort out issues council raised to see if the development project can be altered.
"Or, they can say no, we've decided that we want to continue with the application and then they can go to the (municipal board,)" Rapp said.
In November, politicians raised the same concerns about den conversions for a condo project at 151 King St. N.
