When the North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) partially lifted an 11-year moratorium on water service applications a year ago, it was seen as key for more Ganges-area affordable housing.
If a flood of applications to claim one of the estimated 300 multi-family-unit-equivalent water connections was anticipated due to pent-up demand, a slow drip occurred instead. A year later, an estimated 22 per cent (or 64) connections are paid for, with 36 of those allocated to BC Housing’s Drake Road housing complex.
Included in those numbers are connections to existing rental suites whose property owners decided to legalize them through the Islands Trust. Even though no new infrastructure is needed and water is already being consumed by residents there, capital expenditure charges of several thousand dollars were collected to help pay for the new Maxwell Lake water treatment plant. Since the NSSWD is in the business of providing water — not facilitating affordable housing — it’s understandable that the financial benefits of lifting the moratorium are the NSSWD’s prime consideration.
The NSSWD might have decided to prioritize applications that would create affordable housing — if it could. But the antiquated improvement district legislation it operates under does not provide for that option. The Drake Road units aside, no new single-family dwellings for island workers to rent or buy could result, which would be yet another setback for the affordable housing movement on the island.
That’s why the Salt Spring Local Trust Committee’s decision to ask the provincial government to intervene by providing services of a “housing advisor” makes sense. The powers of the province are needed to perhaps make it possible for affordable housing to be prioritized for the NSSWD’s remaining available water connections. (In addition to the front-page story about this issue, trustee Laura Patrick has written an explanatory article that is posted on our gulfislandsdriftwood.com website.)
Considering the NDP government’s apparent lack of interest in helping improve Salt Spring/Islands Trust governance issues, we’re not optimistic it will make a difference. But as with all things related to increasing local affordable housing options, it’s at least worth a try.