{"id":622266,"date":"2026-04-23T01:25:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T01:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/622266\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T01:25:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T01:25:27","slug":"iqaluit-committee-rejects-rezoning-bid-for-116-new-public-housing-units","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/622266\/","title":{"rendered":"Iqaluit committee rejects rezoning bid for 116 new public housing units"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nunavut Housing Corp. proposed pair of 5-storey buildings on empty Hospital Hill lot<\/p>\n

A rezoning proposal that would have enabled Nunavut Housing Corp. to build 116 units on a central vacant lot was rejected by Iqaluit\u2019s planning and development committee Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

City councillors debated the impact of adding 116 units in that neighbourhood, the number of parking spaces it would require and the city\u2019s overall plans for growth for approximately 40 minutes before voting.<\/p>\n

The result was a 4-2 decision against approving the first reading of a bylaw that would have increased the density of the lot on Niaqunngusiariaq Road.<\/p>\n

Councillors\u2019 rejection also shot down the opportunity to hold a public hearing before the bylaw would have been read a second time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we really want to be the council that turns down 116 public housing units \u2014 on a public housing wait-list of years for people \u2014 just, I would be shocked,\u201d said Deputy Mayor Kim Smith, who chairs the committee.<\/p>\n

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City council documents show Nunavut Housing Corp.\u2019s concept for two buildings with a combined 116 new public housing units for Iqaluit on empty lots near Hospital Hill. (Screenshot courtesy of City of Iqaluit)<\/p>\n

Nunavut Housing Corp.\u2019s proposal called for two 58-unit, five-storey apartment buildings in an area at the bottom of Hospital Hill.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Three housing complexes were demolished there in 2023.<\/p>\n

The area is currently zoned for medium-density housing, meaning it can hold a maximum of about 43 units, said city planner Mathew Dodds.<\/p>\n

Council would need to rezone the land to high density in order to allow Nunavut Housing Corp. to build more units than that.<\/p>\n

Coun. Harry Flaherty asked whether the proposal included enough parking spaces for 116 dwelling units.<\/p>\n

With one parking spot for every three units, Dodds said, that\u2019s the same ratio of spaces to units that councillors approved for other apartment buildings in the city\u2019s core area.<\/p>\n

This development, Dodds said, is within a five-minute walking distance of \u201ccore amenities,\u201d such as Qikiqtani General Hospital and Astro Hill.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Flaherty said the city lacks a master plan to guide how it wants to develop housing and where particular types of housing should be built.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here for the long term. Long term is to make sure that we\u2019re not trying to get a quick fix,\u201d Flaherty said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because we have shortages of housing doesn\u2019t mean we just install whatever we can put.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith \u2014 who as committee chair does not vote \u2014 suggested councillors could approve the bylaw on first reading. After that, she said, community members could have their say at a public hearing before council considers the rezoning on second reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a great opportunity for us to hear from the public on what they want their city to look like, what their needs are,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

With councillors\u2019 vote to reject the proposal, though, that opportunity won\u2019t come.<\/p>\n

Only councillors Romeyn Stevenson and Amber Aglukark voted in favour.<\/p>\n

Flaherty was joined by Mayor Solomon Awa and councillors Simon Nattaq and Methusalah Kunuk in opposing the motion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nunavut Housing Corp. proposed pair of 5-storey buildings on empty Hospital Hill lot A rezoning proposal that would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-622266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}