The City of Victoria’s potential affordable-housing strategy has more to do with ending homelessness than you would think, according to one expert.
Andrew Wynn-Williams, executive director of the Coalition to End Homelessness, believes increasing housing opportunities for residents who earn between the minimum wage and the living wage is more promising than short-term fixes such as micro-housing.
Both were moved forward by city councillors at the governance and priorities committee meeting on Thursday.
“I think one of the challenges we face sometimes is people seem to imagine that there’s some sort of border and a distinct population who becomes homeless,” Wynn-Williams said.
“In fact, it’s very fluid. So for people who experience homelessness, especially temporarily, it’s really about affordability.”
The coalition participated in the mayor’s task force on housing affordability alongside developers, landlords, social and community planners and elected officials.
City councillors voted to send a suite of ideas proposed by the task force to staff for review. Council will debate the specifics of the plan after receiving staff input.
Recommendations range from contributing public land at no cost or at reduced market value for the development of affordable housing projects to eliminating minimum unit sizes.
Other ideas include permitting garden suites in single-family zones and on properties with secondary suites, giving tax exemptions to non-profits that own or build affordable housing and reducing the number of parking spots required for multi-unit buildings.
The task force is targeting residents who make between $18,149 and $57,772 per year and is distinct from social-housing initiatives.
David Hutniak, CEO of Landlord B.C., said he was happy to be consulted as part of the task force, since increasing affordable housing will require collaboration from many stakeholders.
The committee was brought up to date on the search for short-term solutions to homelessness that include plans for a micro-housing village, a designated park area for camping and more emergency shelter spaces.
A new organization, the Micro-Housing Victoria Society, has been tasked with leading the micro-housing project. The society has outlined a plan to house 35 people on a half acre, but a site has not been identified.
For overnight camping, staff say the southwest corner of Topaz Park is the best spot.
Mayor Lisa Helps said council is looking at a multi-pronged approach for a reason. “We need to see what works best and what takes the least resources for the biggest impact, from temporary camping units to new units of supportive housing,” Helps said.
Coun. Jeremy Loveday said it’s no coincidence that the initiatives to reduce homelessness and provide more affordable housing for working individuals and families are coming out together.
“We have a housing crisis and we also have a crisis of people without housing,” he said. “It all works together as a perfect storm, so that’s why we need broad action.”
Coun. Geoff Young was the only committee member to vote against both initiatives. He said he doesn’t believe a Topaz Park encampment or micro-housing village will have the intended effect.
“I predict there will be a negative impact on the surrounding neighbourhoods and I do not believe, in the long run, they will be effective in addressing the fundamental problems,” Young said.
He said housing isn’t the responsibility of municipal governments, so it’s not appropriate to spend city resources on it, which could mean increasing taxes for the people it’s intended to help.
