Gibsons council has voted to move forward with amendments to the covenant covering the former Christenson property on Shaw Road to allow it to be used for not-for-profit housing that isn’t age restricted.
The existing covenant on the land, which was sold to the Town in the early 1990s at less than market value, specifies “not-for-profit housing for seniors” as one of the potential uses.
Amending it to remove the words “for seniors” would allow a portion of the property to be used for a joint Town of Gibsons - Sunshine Coast Affordable Housing Society project.
The first three readings of the amendment bylaw passed unanimously at the April 16 regular council meeting, but councillor Annemarie De Andrade said she would like to see some sort of guarantee that a portion of any future housing on the site is earmarked for seniors.
“I would like to see that for this particular area, because the area initially had been dedicated to seniors,” she said. “Future development would have a lot of continuity with seniors so even though we don’t want, obviously, only seniors I would like just to ensure [some].”
At a committee meeting earlier in the day, councillors heard from Dion Whyte, chair of the Housing Society, architect Peter Treuheit and Andy Broderick of New Commons Development.
The trio presented ideas for a phased development of the property, starting with a 40-unit housing complex for the portion of the lot closest to Shaw, based on the previous plans for an affordable housing development on the Town-owned Charman Creek Lands.
Treuheit described the preliminary design as a “hybrid” between the townhouse style layout of the early Charman proposal and a traditional “compact apartment.” He said the goal is to create a sense of community.
Treuheit also said they’ve been talking with the Good Samaritan Society, which operates the Christenson Village long-term care facility on the neighbouring property, about working together to develop the future phases.
He said the vision is to eventually include housing with some support services, and a medical clinic and care facility in an “integrated neighbourhood.”
As many as 30 units could be added in the second phase, and councillor David Croal wondered whether all 70 units could be built out at once. “If we do it in phases we’re potentially going to be doing [construction] three times, which is going to be really invasive to the community. So, to be able to go in once and at least create 70 units of housing, which the community needs – is there the capacity?”
Whyte said looking at building 70 units right off the bat would be a decision that would have to come after some market studies to see if there’s enough demand for the units that would be rented at market or near market rates.
Responding to an earlier question about the mix of affordable, subsidized and market rent units, Whyte said the Housing Society has to consider that balance carefully, because the market or near-market rental income will be needed to support the project.
He also pointed out that the proposed mix for Shaw Road would have “the lion’s share of the units” delivered as affordable housing.
Once the amendments to the covenant are adopted, the project would still require zoning and Official Community Plan amendments, which would be subject to the usual public process.
