The City of Orillia plans to work with the County of Simcoe to find more opportunities for affordable housing in the city.
The county recently issued a letter asking municipalities to identify lands that might be used for developments, and it plans to issue a formal call for proposals later this year to partner up on creating more affordable housing.
The county, which is also working on a ten-year homelessness prevention strategy and affordable housing master plan, previously issued a call for proposals in 2016, which brought more than 330 affordable housing units to communities around Simcoe County.
At Monday’s council meeting, city politicians directed staff to work with the affordable housing committee in drafting a report on potential partnership opportunities between Orillia and the county.
“It's basically a call out from the county to see what local municipalities could do to improve affordable housing in their area,” said Coun. Jay Fallis at Monday’s meeting.
“I see this as kind of the beginning steps of leading to something greater — I think there's a bit of opportunity here," said Fallis.
“We can look at if there are any additional properties that we have available, any particular bylaws, or just initiatives … in asking for a report from staff.”
Municipalities could donate land, ensure the appropriate planning approvals are in place, waive development fees, and more to help provide partnership opportunities with the county, county officials suggest.
The city did not take up the county on the previous call for proposals, as the city “did not have any lands available to offer the county,” said Ian Sugden, the city's general manager of development services and engineering.
“It was shortly after that the county acquired the former ODCVI school site and took out that project on their own,” Sugden said.
Fallis said he is “proud” that “everyone on this council agrees that affordable housing is one of the most pressing issues,” and he hopes to see the city do what it can to increase its affordable housing inventory.
“Any support that we can look at doing that's viable is really worth pursuing and exploring,” he said.
