City of Powell River Council will write to the minister of housing and municipal affairs regarding increasing the number of affordable housing units in the community.
At the January 23 city council meeting, councillors considered a motion from councillor Trina Isakson to write the ministry to affirm the city’s strong interest in collaborating in order to increase the number of affordable housing units in the community, including, but not limited to, housing for seniors, workers, families and people with disabilities.
Isakson said even though the motion was as simple as writing a letter, she wanted to be clear about why she thinks it is so important.
“I know that sometimes provincial staff or even elected officials watch our meetings and I want to be clear that when it comes to affordable housing in our community, we have a need, we have a will, but we are struggling with a way,” said Isakson. “We have a high need for affordable housing in our community that cannot be met by the private market and it requires significant partnership and investment from senior levels of government. According to our interim housing needs report brought to council in December 2024, the city is on track to see sufficient construction of for-purchase homes for moderate- and high-income households.”
Isakson said of the new units the community needs built by 2026 to meet housing needs, the city needs 650 units to be affordable to households that are very low income, low income or moderate income, and 273 units to be affordable rental units at deep subsidy, rent geared to income, or below market rents. She said the community’s 2023 homeless count identified 126 individuals as experiencing homelessness, so the community has a need.
“We also have a will,” said Isakson. “City council, city staff and community organizations have indicated a strong interest in finding ways to develop affordable housing. City council’s 2024 to 2026 strategic priorities include two strong interests in housing – prioritizing lease of city-owned land to support non-market, multi-family housing, and to create a housing authority, working with partners to create sustainable, affordable, permanent housing. We have an abundance of city-owned property. Only some may be suitable for housing.”
Isakson said mayor and council have previously established two council committees to explore the use of city-owned properties, including for housing. She said the city responded to the voluntary request that Union of British Columbia Municipalities sent municipalities on behalf of the ministry of housing in March 2023, in which the city sent eight examples of city-owned land that could potentially be used for housing.
“We have distributed two requests for expressions of interest for the development of affordable housing on a piece of city-owned property centrally located within the city,” said Isakson. “We are currently recruiting a manager of city development who will be responsible in part for advancing affordable housing opportunities and effectively using city-owned property. City staff have organized virtual and in-person events to connect community housing organizations, landowners and other interested parties with funders in government agencies.”
Isakson said community members, individuals and organizations have independently created at least three housing-related groups working on solutions to housing needs.
“We have a will, but we are struggling with a way forward,” said Isakson. “Attracting a full complement of planning staff in the city during a housing crisis is hard. We have excellent staff, but not enough for the work we would love for them to take on, above and beyond their core work.”
Isakson said the city is in an economic transition, where uncertainty and tax revenues from major industry has city council having to make hard decisions about which of the many challenges and opportunities to act on. She said housing is only one of many challenges.
“In summary, our community requires a number of solutions to meet the housing needs of our residents,” said Isakson.
Councillor Cindy Elliott said the city’s requests for proposals for affordable housing have not resulted in projects going forward. She said BC Housing representatives have said less than 50 per cent of the applications they receive actually get approved for funding, and the process for developing those applications is arduous work and expensive.
“We lack the capacity to develop successful projects here in our community that result in housing getting built and funded,” said Elliott. “What we need from BC Housing is some help getting projects approved and funded here in our community.”
Elliott said rents are high in the community and people need to be able to afford to live here.
The motion to send the letter to the minister carried unanimously.
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