Saying itsa国际传媒檚 already gone over and above what was expected in streamlining the housing process, Victoria is calling on the federal government to pony up promised funds.
But the request for tens of millions of dollars comes as council is still slowing down some applications in the approval pipeline and as the city faces the prospect of no housing funds under Conservative leader Pierre Poilievresa国际传媒檚 plan.
Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto said Monday that she wrote to federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser last week, asking that the capital gets its sa国际传媒渇air sharesa国际传媒� of federal housing funding. A monetary infusion to the tune of $28 million sa国际传媒� through the federal Liberalssa国际传媒� Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) sa国际传媒� is in order after the city executed what the mayor called the sa国际传媒渘ation-leadingsa国际传媒� Victoria Housing Strategy.
sa国际传媒淎s Victorians know, we live in a small city with a big citysa国际传媒檚 housing crisis. Victoria is a vibrant, growing city with a strong economy and a skilled workforce but our municipalitysa国际传媒檚 capacity to support further growth is challenged by a very constrained housing market that is no longer tied to local incomes,sa国际传媒� Alto said in a statement.
sa国际传媒淰ictoria simply cannot wait any longer for the necessary federal funding to help fix our housing challenges sa国际传媒� funding in an amount that matches the scale of those challenges and reflects our citysa国际传媒檚 role in the regional rental, affordable and urban Indigenous housing systems.sa国际传媒�
Altosa国际传媒檚 predecessor Lisa Helps, now the premiersa国际传媒檚 housing solutions advisor, frequently lobbied her council to support housing projects under the guise of being eligible for the $4 billion accelerator fund. The program sa国际传媒� which dished out $74 million to London, Ont. earlier this month sa国际传媒� provides incentives to communities that increase their housing supply by cutting red tape, fixing outdated local zoning policies and building homes faster.
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But as recently as July, Victoria council said a project in James Bay sa国际传媒� that would transform a parking lot into a mixed-use site with 112 new one-to-three-bedroom strata units sa国际传媒� should go back to the drawing board. That was despite the developer providing public amenities, a rent-free daycare and situating a 17-storey tower across from existing apartments to the north while using smaller townhouses as a transition from mostly single-family neighbourhoods to the south.
City staff had reservations over the projectsa国际传媒檚 height, mass and how it would fit into future uses of the area.
sa国际传媒淥ur council has obviously been and will continue to be very pro-housing, but it doesnsa国际传媒檛 mean that anything goes all the time,sa国际传媒� Coun. Jeremy Caradonna said as he moved to refer the project so it could be adjusted.
Philip MacKellar, a member of the advocacy group Homes For Living, said delays sa国际传媒� whether well thought out or not sa国际传媒� will always increase the costs of units when they reach the rental or ownership market.
sa国际传媒�(Delays) are problematic, if a council is in a housing crisis, which we are, the capacity or bandwidth to be nit-picky to specific details should be lower than if we were not in a housing crisis,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淭his was a bit disappointing for sure, but I think that this project will eventually come back to council and theysa国际传媒檒l pass it.sa国际传媒�
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While he notes it delayed approving the Harris Green Village project, MacKellar said hesa国际传媒檚 encouraged that this group at City Hall likely greenlit more units than any council has during a first year in office. He noted surrounding communities have done less on housing, while Oak Bay has created a regulatory environment where projects are barely pitched now.
Speaking with media outside city hall on Monday, Alto refuted that the city isnsa国际传媒檛 doing enough to streamline the housing process when asked about the James Bay project. The mayor said city processes that simplify and speed up building different forms of housing are working, but she acknowledged theresa国际传媒檚 always more to do. Alto noted council will be updated with proposed changes to the Missing Middle Initiative this week.
The mayor said Fraser confirmed Victoria has been approved for accelerator funding, but the feds have not confirmed a dollar amount as she requested.
sa国际传媒淥ur position sa国际传媒� is that based on our housing strategies and based on the criteria of the (housing accelerator), we not only meet but dramatically exceed their criteria,sa国际传媒� Alto said.
A request for comment from the federal housing minister went unanswered Monday (Sept. 25).
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The accelerator fundsa国际传媒檚 structure is also being debated in Ottawa as the Conservative Party of Canadasa国际传媒檚 Poilievre unveiled his own housing plan last week.
Itsa国际传媒檚 unclear whether Poilievresa国际传媒檚 private membersa国际传媒檚 bill sa国际传媒� which would reward cities that boost housing while cutting funding for ones that donsa国际传媒檛 hit targets sa国际传媒� would see Victoria be eligible for any money. The billsa国际传媒檚 infrastructure-funding bonuses and holdbacks would apply to 22 sa国际传媒渉igh-cost citiessa国际传媒� that donsa国际传媒檛 include Victoria, Nanaimo or any other Island communities.
sa国际传媒淚 cansa国际传媒檛 speak on Mr. Poilievresa国际传媒檚 policies but I know that the city is now the fourth-most expensive in Canada and so it would be peculiar to see that we werensa国际传媒檛 on a list like that,sa国际传媒� Alto said.
Black Press Media reached out to Poilievresa国际传媒檚 parliamentary email for comment but received no response about what data informed the sa国际传媒渉igh-cost citiessa国际传媒� or if his bill would withhold funding from Victoria.
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