Council discusses reopening limits on residential unit sizes and calls for housing needs assessment

City staff told the committee that the administration had discussed whether to "revisit the maximum residential housing sizes," and that the city would want to coordinate with the new building commissioner and relevant staff before returning a recommendation to council. "There seemed to be some appetite to reopen that discussion," the staff member said during the update.

Staff also flagged a comprehensive housing needs assessment as an item "that still really needs a lot of discussion" and asked council to identify objectives, expected deliverables and an available budget before hiring a consultant. The staff member said the economic development director already maintains relevant market data and that limited developable land in the city will shape any recommendations.