Victoria councillors want to know the history surrounding a small Cook Street parking lot before deciding whether it should be considered for micro-housing.
City staff are recommending that the non-profit MicroHousing Victoria be allowed to apply for a temporary-use permit to build a small dwelling for six people on a vacant, city-owned lot at 2582 Cook St. and are seeking authorization to negotiate terms of a lease for the site.
The sloping, 2,960-square-foot lot, which borders the Quadra-Hillside-Oaklands neighbourhoods, is used as a free parking lot for six residents. It’s paved and has city signs indicating residential parking.
It’s thought the parking was provided as compensation for the loss of on-street parking when the city widened Cook Street in the 1980s, but city staff say they have found no record of any agreement and nothing attached to the title specifying that.
Councillors asked that staff investigate further any agreements or discussions made in the past with immediate neighbours in relation to the property, including a review of minutes from council meetings from the period.
Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe said she wants to know as best as possible if the city has entered into any agreements with neighbours about the parking before considering the housing proposal.
“It’s not about micro-housing. It’s about the property and what agreements were made. If it’s any kind of applicant, I think we need to have that information,” she said.
Micro-houses are typically affordable homes — often about the size of a large garden shed — designed to bridge the gap between homeless shelters and the development of permanent, affordable housing.
The Cook Street project would house six people and have a shared kitchen, a dining area, a full bath and a half bath clustered within what would appear from the street to be a small (about 1,300 square feet) single-family home.
Director of sustainable planning Jonathan Tinney said as far as staff can tell, there are no formal agreements regarding the use of the property.
“There may be informal agreements and those informal agreements may appear very formal to the residents because we paved it and we put a sign there, but ultimately, those informal agreements do not fetter council,” Tinney said.
