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Affordable housing strategy envisions 445 units over 10 years By Liz Dadson |
Kincardine council/Huron-Kinloss council To Comment on this article Click Here |
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Bruce County Housing wants to see 445 affordable housing units built over the next 10 years. Susan Earle of Bruce County Housing and Leah Andrews of the Bruce County planning department, took their message to Huron-Kinloss and Kincardine councils last week.
Susan Earle (L) and Leah Andrews make their presentation at Kincardine council Earle said there is a lack of affordable housing in the county, mainly along the lakeshore. And affordability is the major issue, she said. A long-term housing strategy has been drawn up by the county and its vision is to create "appropriate, affordable, diverse and supportive housing choices for all Bruce County residents." Andrews said the main components of that vision are "housing choices" and "all residents." "Bruce County has one of the oldest housing stocks in the province," said Earle. "But if people don't have the money to maintain these old houses, their utility costs increase. We have people applying to county housing who own their homes but can't afford to maintain them." The strategy envisions building 445 affordable housing units by the year 2020, said Andrews. To do that, requires a shift in community thinking - from NIMBY(Not In My Back Yard) to YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard), she said. One of the huge factors in the housing strategy is the increase in the seniors population in this area, said Earle. Also creating impacts are the cyclical activity at Bruce Power, the need for emergency, transitional and supportive housing, and the need for more diversified housing. Where local councils can help is to ensure their planning bylaws don't impede the construction of affordable housing in their municipalities, said Andrews.
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Earle emphasized
that it's not Bruce County Housing that plans to build 445 units over
10 years. The agency want to partner with the private sector and non-profit
organizations to bring this vision to fruition. "We want to meet with the builders and the financial sector," said Earle. "We want to ask them, what's stopping you from building affordable housing for rentals and for home ownership?" She pointed to a great community effort just completed in Port Elgin with the construction of 36 affordable housing units at Wellington and River Streets. It consists of a 28-unit apartment building and eight townhouses. The project had federal and provincial funding, as well as input from the county and the Town of Saugeen Shores, said Earle. The market rent in Port Elgin is about $800 to $900 per month. These units will rent out at $530/month for a one-bedroom, and $580/month for a two-bedroom. Kincardine council suggested its economic development and tourism manager bring back a report about what possible properties in Kincardine could be used for these projects. Mayor Larry Kraemer said affordable housing is important to the small business community, in particular, in order to attract staff to work in these businesses. He said the NIMBY problem stems from the perception that affordable housing is for people on government assistance which isn't completely correct. Both
Kincardine and Huron-Kinloss councils thanked Earle and Andrews for the
report, and agreed that the municipalities will have to come up with
some creative ways to accomplish the goals of building affordable
housing in their communities. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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