HUMBOLDT —The City of Humboldt and the Government of Canada announced on Aug. 6 that a $2.3 million agreement has been made to encourage more residential home development for Humboldt.
The funding is through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Housing Accelerator Fund. HAF is an application-based program that provides funding directly to municipalities across the country to incentivize and support initiatives aimed at increasing the supply of housing.
The press release said, “These funds will support the implementation of some of the city’s development goals, including expanding housing opportunities for residents and streamlining our development permitting processes.”
The HAF will help cut red tape and fast track new homes for Humboldt. During the application process, the city was asked for an innovative action plan that was subsequently approved.
The City’s HAF Action Plan includes five initiatives:
-
Update Development Levy Charges
-
Area Structure Planning
-
Residential Construction Tax Incentive
-
Adjust Development Levies to Encourage Density
-
Implement E-permitting and Simplify Permit Approval Processes
“This $2.3 million federal investment in Humboldt supports our efforts to meet the diverse housing needs of our community, while also supporting a collection of initiatives aimed at enhancing our community’s growth. We’ve been proactively planning for ambitious growth in a way that optimizes both land use and infrastructure and now we can put those plans into action,” said Joe Day, City Manager.
“The Housing Accelerator Fund is a tremendous opportunity for the City to begin to implement key actions identified by Administration. The City’s plan includes a mix of initiatives that will result in some desired increases in our housing supply. Other projects will support improvements to the broader housing system and will take us into the future of housing in Humboldt,” said Mayor Michael Behiel.
