Hallelujah, it looks like this town’s anemic affordable housing strategy will finally get a Red Bull boost.
The recently issued report by the Squamish Housing Task Force offers a broad range of recommendations “to increase the supply, availability and access to affordable housing units across the housing spectrum/continuum.”
The authors of the report propose that the District of Squamish and local agencies should work with the Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation to reduce financing barriers for the construction of purpose-built rental housing. They also advocate cutting restrictions and fees for secondary suites and accessory dwellings.
The report recommends that the District’s affordable rental and modest market sector policy should operate in concert with all the stakeholders in the housing spectrum.
It advises the District to set a target number of affordable units that will be constructed by developers.
And it suggests upping the percentage of funds slated for the District’s Affordable Housing Reserve from rezoned smaller-scale infill developments.
It also recommends the identification of municipal and provincial lands for purpose-built non-profit affordable housing and urges the reduction of the number of units lost to the local short-term rental market.
Another recommendation is the creation of a housing stakeholder group and a District-funded housing coordinator.
The group’s role will be to discuss opportunities for collaboration on housing issues and it will be chaired by the housing coordinator who will also be responsible for the implementation of the recommendations in the report.
Mayor Heintzman recently told The Chief she thinks local developers got caught “flat footed” a few years ago by failing to anticipate the rapid increase in demand for housing in Squamish.
That assertion is only partially true.
Although progress has been made on the housing front, with valuable contributions coming from various local groups and individuals, this file has tumbled down a bureaucratic rabbit hole over the past decade.
In 2005, the District launched an Affordable Housing Strategy. Six years later that initiative was renamed the Housing Action Plan. It subsequently morphed into the Affordable Housing Framework for Squamish and the Squamish Housing Options Group was assigned with its implementation.
Two years ago a Squamish Housing Task Force was formed and now the aforementioned housing stakeholders group and a housing coordinator are waiting in the wings.
In hindsight, it’s safe to say that successive municipal administrations have employed the Nero approach when it comes to activating a comprehensive housing strategy. They dithered and fiddled until the situation heated up to the point where it has become the most pressing issue facing this community.
That being said, many of the recommendations in the report are the product of 10 years of cumulative input and their timely implementation should be one of the District’s highest priorities.
