Saanich city council has voted unanimously Monday night in favour of a new motion that would accelerate the process of building affordable housing in the municipality.
“It allows us to take out the politics of it,” said Saanich Mayor Fred Haynes.
Following Victoria’s lead, Saanich Coun. Susan Brice is bringing forward the motion, hoping to fast track non-profit, government, or co-op housing organizations’ applications for housing by allowing them to skip the rezoning or public hearing process if the design is consistent with the city’s official community plan.
“The thought is if we can move some of the barriers they can move more quickly,” said Brice. “And as not for profits save money, they can reduce their rents or they can invest in more affordable housing.”
The Cridge Centre For The Family based in Victoria offers housing for a three-year term for women fleeing violence. But the current housing crisis is expanding that to four and five-year terms, with another cost.
“We’re seeing a desperate need for more subsidized housing,” said Candace Stretch, manager of supportive transitional housing for the Cridge Centre. “In the last quarter we had to turn away 95 per cent of applicants, and these are all women fleeing violent partnerships.”
It’s a bottleneck non-profits are facing across Vancouver Island. And it’s a problem, Saanich council is not only seeking to relieve, but the move would also position Saanich for what might be significant federal funding.
“It will allow us to be more nimble and that will be critical for the residents of Saanich to receive that government funding which the federal government has just signalled,” said Haynes.
Within their 2022 budget, the Liberals launched a New Housing Accelerator Fund, offering $4-billion to build 100,000 new homes in urban areas by 2025. The budget also extends the rapid housing initiative, pledging $1.5 billion over two years to create at least 6,000 new housing units to help tackle homelessness.
Mayor Haynes says the proposed motion to streamline any future affordable housing applications could potentially reduce project timelines anywhere from nine months up to one year.
But, then comes the next bottleneck: construction.
“Even if we approved everything on our books tomorrow, the industry wouldn’t be able to build it next week,” said Haynes.
Kori Sidaway
