The Parksville Qualicum Beach region is looking at a more-than-1,500-household deficit in terms of affordable housing, according to data from the UBC's Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART).
Jane Vinet and Scott Harrison of the Oceanside Non-Market Housing Task Force presented to Parksville Council's Oct. 7 meeting.
Harrison shared data from HART, which found deficits in Parksville of 600 units and 230 units in Qualicum Beach.
Combined with Coombs and Errington (375), RDN Area G (150), RDN Area H (95) and Nanoose Bay (70), the total affordable housing deficit for the region is 1,520.
“This is probably your upper band because it’s strictly income-based, but even if you reduced it in half, it’s still 750-plus — and that’s 750 units, not people,” Harrison said, and added the data is based on income and cannot measure a person's assets, such as a paid off home.
Harrison, a town councillor in Qualicum Beach, added he volunteers with the Oceanside Non-Market Housing Task Force as a private citizen.
Coun. Joel Grenz said Parksville is "definitely punching above our weight" in terms of new builds, which have increased by two per cent since the previous BC Assessment — twice the provincial average.
“I think the thing you’ve done very well is how well any project gets processed, including non-market," Harrison said. "That makes it much more attractive than a community where you might make last second changes."
Harrison recommended Parksville council consult with residents to see if they want the city to acquire more land for affordable housing, as well as proactively seek out partnerships with nonprofits.
Coun. Amit Gaur asked if there was a way the Regional District of Nanaimo could "help take off the pressure" in Parksville and Qualicum Beach in terms of building affordable housing.
RDN staff have indicated to Harrison, in the past, that there is not a lot of serviced land in the rural areas. The lack of proximate services is another impediment to affordable housing projects in those areas, he added.
He added that if you drive down a side road in Errington or Coombs, for example, you can drive for 10 minutes and only pass single family homes.
"And is that the development we really want in the long run," he said. "Because it takes up way more water, it’s way more expensive, it’s hard to do public transportation."
Mayor Doug O'Brien said the city's planning department gives the advice of "balanced housing".
“You can’t have all affordable, you can’t have all market. You need that balance because one obviously pays for the other,” O'Brien said. “The City of Parksville is getting rather short now on land value because we have contributed a number of pieces of land in the past, I’d say in the last decade, anyways, to fit that affordable housing criteria.”
O'Brien added if the city continues to build more supply, it will bring down the cost of market housing.
