The Sunshine Coast Affordable Housing Society is a step closer to getting the funding it needs to move ahead on a joint project with the Town of Gibsons.
The society’s Matt Thomson briefed councillors on the results of a Feb. 1 community meeting designed to get feedback on the proposal for 40 units of market and subsidized rental on a property known as the Charman Creek lands.
Twenty-nine residents as well as Town staff and Housing Society board members were at the meeting, which followed a “world café” format, allowing for facilitated conversations at a series of tables
Thomson said it was a “respectful and positive” discussion, and a couple of areas of concern stood out.
“The two biggest ones were probably traffic flow in and out of the neighbourhood down Shaw Road, as well as the environmental impact of any development on the Charman Creek lands.”
Thomson said one of the ideas being looked at to address concerns about the environment is using underground parking, which would be more expensive but also reduce the overall footprint of the project.
Coun. Jeremy Valeriote suggested one way to avoid people feeling as though forest was being removed to create housing – and that it could lead to a domino effect – would be to look at tying it to protecting other areas at the same time.
The question of height also came up, and Thomson’s written report said ideas for reducing the impact included keeping the buildings to a single storey, or ensuring taller buildings are as far away from existing homes as possible.
The next step for the project is to apply to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for funding to continue neighbourhood consultation, create a detailed site plan and design, and prepare a full business case.
Thomson told the committee that if the society has an application ready to go later this month, the project would be in a good position to get approved in the next round of funding.
He also said securing funding from CHMC would increase the likelihood of getting provincial money for the actual construction of the $9-million project. “The seed funding would essentially set us up to tick a lot of the boxes around the provincial funding, so we could access that,” Thomson said. “The CMHC seed funding would push us over the mark in terms having a fully fleshed-out, shovel-ready project.”
