Last March the Town of Gibsons council approved a housing agreement bylaw designating that two units be built with a set price point of under $240,000 at Soames Place (just off Marine Drive between Langdale and Gibsons).
Originally, the Town had been left in charge of finding suitable candidates for the two units, but has decided it will no longer go through the selection process, leaving that up to Leeon Projects Ltd., the developers behind the housing project.
With the housing project nearing completion, Leeon requested to council on May 19 that the Town remove the affordable housing restriction because two units at the site have been valued at $241,000 and the restrictions are making the units hard to sell.
“In my report, I did recommend to accept the current units because they are meeting our Town policy,” director of planning André Boel said. “The units need to be available for people earning up to median income in the Town of Gibsons. The $241,000 uses a benchmark — since 2013 — based on a calculation of median income in the Town, including mortgage rates.”
Coun. Silas White was in favour of taking a cash contribution for the Town’s affordable housing fund.
An agreement was reached between Town staff and Leeon for a contribution of about $15,000 once the units sell. The agreement isn’t official, meaning that Leeon could sell the units at a higher price with little recourse from the Town.
“Would you be willing to enter into an agreement that’s not going to be registered anywhere, just a contract between you and the Town?” Mayor Wayne Rowe asked Leeon’s Andrew Lee. “That if you sell those two units for more than $240,000, that the difference will be paid to the Town for the housing policy?”
Lee said he would need to check with shareholders.
Eventually it boiled down to Leeon needing to sell the units in order to contribute anything to the affordable housing fund. Council decided that staff negotiate an appropriate contribution with the developer for the Town’s affordable housing fund, and that the contribution would be made in the future.
