The will to build more affordable/supportive housing is there. The mechanisms needed to execute that will is what's lacking.
Funding requests for a pair of supportive housing projects turned into a lesson about how ill-equipped the city is to handle such requests at Monday’s council meeting.
The Drop In Centre is seeking $540,000 from the city to help purchase the Parkview Motel and turn it into 36 permanent supportive housing units and Kindle Communities is seeking approximately $550,000 to support a 30-person supportive housing project near the Willow Road/Dawson Road intersection.
Council did not make a decision on those requests Monday, in part because those projects are in the early stages.
What became evident as the night went on is that the city is having difficulty processing such funding requests.
The simmering discussion boiled over when city CAO Scott Stewart laid it on the line with a “bit of doom and gloom” for council, telling them there isn’t the clarity, process or staffing to deal with such requests effectively.
The city is in the process of discussions with the County of Wellington to hand over the processing and decisions regarding affordable/supportive housing applications to them.
It is the county that is the service provider for housing services both in the county and Guelph.
“To do it well, we have to have process,” Stewart told council.
“Right now we’re scrambling” to handle affordable/supportive housing applications, added deputy CAO Colleen Clack-Bush.
At the end of the night council voted in support of Mayor Cam Guthrie’s motion to move $1 million from a pair of reserve funds into the Affordable Housing Reserve, which is currently empty.
The money was not designated for any specific project(s) That will come later.
“We have been talking and talking about this for a long time,” Guthrie said of the need to send a message to the community.
“This council agrees that supportive housing is important and we’re not going to have this debate at budget time, we’re going to have it now,” Guthrie said.
A motion to refer the mayor’s motion to budget discussion failed.
“I don’t want the debate at budget … I want it now and I want the support to the community tonight that we take this very seriously,” he said.
Council did approve a request from Habitat for Humanity to defer development fees totalling $282,631 for its Cityview project that will now be paid back over six years.
The city’s Affordable Housing Reserve, where such funding would come from, is already spent, in part because of a $924,000 grant towards a 165-unit affordable housing development on Janefield Avenue.
In May of 2019 the city agreed to give the Rockwater project $924,000 from its Affordable Housing Reserve. Now there are concerns the project may not proceed. It is currently before the courts.
Clack-Bush said staff couldn’t say much publicly about that project, only that the developer has told the city they plan on proceeding and hope to start building in early 2021.
In August, staff told council Rockwater is likely “not to proceed as planned.”
Neither the Parkview Motel or the Kindle project currently have the zoning they need, “which could hold up or prevent the success of this project,” read a staff report.
SkyDev Co, which is providing the land for the Kindle project, said it would be applying for a zone change at the end of November. Gail Hoekstra, executive director of the Drop In Centre, said they would make a zone change application as soon as it can if and when it owns the property.
There was also several mentions by proponents Monday night of the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative for affordable housing, the details of which are expected Tuesday, and how that funding might apply to the Parkview proposal.
A total of 23 delegates were on Monday’s agenda, speaking largely on the Parkview project.
Both camps repeated familiar refrains both in support and against the projects, particularly Parkview: those in favour spoke of the inherent need and philosophical obligation of the city to help its most vulnerable, those against said the project doesn’t respect the greater wishes and demographics of the neighbourhood.
Travis Raw, who has experienced homelessness, talked about how stable housing helped him get his life in order on several levels and helped him overcome addiction.
“I couldn’t keep it together without stable housing. It’s hard to describe the cycle,” Raw said.
“There is hope and I’m living proof of that,” he said. “I truly believe that safe, secure housing is a right, not a privilege. So Guelph, step up.”
Margo and Bob Davis live on Marilyn Drive and were in full support of the project. Parents of a son with mental health issues, they said they have seen the wonderful results that supports like the Drop In Centre can help produce.
Lin Grist said it was “good value for money” for taxpayers because the funds would help the organizations leverage funding from other levels of government.
“The least we can do is support the heroes in our community who are working to plug the gaping hole,” said Susan Watson.
Others spoke against it.
Brittany Kent, a nurse who lives with her family on Marilyn Drive, said she has seen how “dangerous” and “angry” people with mental health issues can be. “I’ve seen it too many times,” she said in speaking against the Parkview project.
“What are the chances that park is going to be full of needles that she’s going to trip on?” Kent said in reference to her young daughter playing at nearby Riverside Park.
Bob Wootton lives on Marilyn Drive and said the project totally ignores the wishes of the community and isn’t suitable for that location.
Sarah Harwood wondered about what she saw as a lack of transparency regarding the project as well as the fact there are many seniors that live in that area, who might not feel safe in their community.
Marco Del Rosario said the property is not meant for that use in that location on a planning level.
In response to questions by Guthrie, Hoekstra said the facility would have 24/7 staffing and “rules of engagement” (Guthrie’s words) in place that residents must adhere to.
