City council got its first look at a proposed affordable housing project for Parksville during its Feb. 21 meeting.
Council heard a presentation by the Parksville Lions Housing Society in support of a four-storey, 36-unit rental apartment building to be located on the corner of Franklin’s Gull Road and the old Island Highway. The project will require an official community plan amendment bylaw and a zoning and development bylaw to move forward.
Tom Roy, society president, said the project will focus on workforce housing and falls under BC Housing’s Community Housing Fund program (CHF).
Twenty per cent of the units will be rented at deep subsidy, half will be pegged at 30 per cent of tenant’s income and 30 per cent will be low-end market rentals, according to the presentation.
“The average home in Parksville is over $900,000,” said Coun. Sean Wood. “I don’t think any of us have ever lived in another time when housing was so expensive. This is a huge issue on a national scale, or provincial scale and obviously here on the Island as well.”
Coun. Amit Gaur said he has noticed a growing income gap in Parksville and sees a “huge” need for non-market housing.
“Where the working people, who used to be able to afford market housing after doing two jobs, they are not able to afford market housing anymore,” Gaur said.
The building will include 18 one-bedroom units, 15 two-bedrooms and three three-bedrooms units. The city-owned land at 1225 Franklin’s Gull Rd. will be leased to the society long-term.
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Gaur said the proposed site seems far away from amenities and asked why the location was chosen for the project.
The site was one of two offered by the city that were large enough, according to Laurie Nickerson, society executive director, and the other property would have required too much infrastructure for the society’s budget.
Coun. Mary Beil pointed out that even when people are able to afford market rent, they are often left with little to no savings.
“These are going to cause huge problems for us down the line as well when these folks reach retirement age and we will have another set of problems,” she said. “Housing is probably the greatest, if you like, contributor to increasing poverty, not only in our community, but elsewhere.”
Mayor Doug O’Brien said the city is grateful to the Lions’ efforts and said committing the land is “the right thing to do”.
“We know we need this because our workers are living in Nanaimo because they can’t afford to live in Parksville,” O’Brien said. “With the price of gas, it’s become uneconomical for them to continue to do so, so we’re trying our bit to do this.”
Roy said the Lions hope to hear back about the funding request to BC Housing so they can move forward with reports and drawings that may be required for an open house.
He added his thanks to the consultants, builder and architect who have worked without pay to make the project possible.
Council voted unanimously in favour of four recommendations, including to direct staff to prepare a follow-up report and bylaws for the application.
The recommendations also include providing opportunity for public engagement and consultation with the Regional District of Nanaimo and Qualicum School District.
