City council has given the affordable housing committee the green light to expand its mandate.
In June, council approved an increase in the committee’s membership, expanding it from five to seven representatives. Ten people applied for the two new spots, but, as the boards and committees selection panel noted in a report to council, it was “challenged to make recommendations for appointments to the (affordable housing committee) without understanding council’s priorities for affordable housing in Orillia.”
On Monday, Coun. Ted Emond, a member of the panel, said the current mandate is mainly to identify potential opportunities for affordable housing in the city and advise council.
Coun. Tim Lauer suggested the mandate be expanded to allow committee members to look at opportunities in the city’s Official Plan, zoning bylaw and other documents to identify possible options for new units.
“It’s important that we don’t slip into a Band-Aid mentality, that we’re (not) trying to patch together solutions,” he said.
“It’s a huge problem and we need insights from planners, insights from developers.”
Mayor Steve Clarke agreed, saying without changes in provincial legislation and buy-in from the private sector, it’s difficult to address the affordable housing issue in a more meaningful way.
The city, he said, can at least identify and assist with potential projects, but also look at possible planning or legislative changes and ways to encourage the private sector to create affordable housing.
The affordable housing committee “has a big job ahead of it,” said Coun. Pat Hehn.
In five years, she noted, the first of the Barrie Road apartments that were required to include affordable units will no longer need to do so, and the same will apply to the second building a few years later.
“We’re already in a spot where we’re losing affordable housing units,” she said, urging the committee to take that into consideration.
Council supported a motion that directs the committee to “focus its efforts across the full spectrum,” including developing tools to foster affordable housing and advising council on specific local affordable housing projects.
