Editor:
The following letter was addressed to the executive director of Habitat for Humanity Sunshine Coast, Douglas Dunn, and shared with Coast Reporter.
Regarding your article, “Affordable Housing Solutions Begin at Home”, in the March/April Home on the Coast: I found some of the opinions expressed troubling. Does Habitat for Humanity really believe that, in order to achieve affordable housing, we must give up municipal control over standards that benefit people of all economic levels?
On one issue you contradict yourself. You say “The Province should set clear new housing targets for municipalities and...take over planning functions from municipalities politically unwilling to provide an adequate supply of new housing,” yet, a few paragraphs later, you state that “municipalities need to engage the whole community in a positive process of integrating affordable housing solutions into the realities of their specific locale.” I applaud the latter statement, but how can communities preserve respect for the “realities of their specific locale” if the provincial government strips power over these matters from elected municipal governments?
You say that “Community Amenity Contributions should be restricted or eliminated”. Are you opposed to requirements that developers give back to the communities from which they make their money? As for seeing tree preservation bylaws, and bans on natural gas in new construction, as impediments to building affordable housing—doesn’t Habitat for Humanity care about climate change? People of all income levels need a livable environment.
I have re-read the article several times, and I cannot help but see your recommendations as benefiting all developers—including those who may have no intention of building affordable housing—rather than benefiting families in need of homes. You refer to a study by the C.D. Howe Institute, which is well known to be a conservative and business-orientated entity.
I think this article is divisive and risks offending many of your supporters.
Sincerely,
Anne Miles, Gibsons
