BY TRANSITION SALT SPRING
Salt Springers: we have an opportunity to support affordable housing while protecting our environment, and it will only take a few minutes of your time! Find out how at transitionsaltspring.com/ocp.
Driftwood readers may recall the article about the Common Ground Summit that Transition Salt Spring put on back in April, which found a surprising amount of agreement about how to support the creation of more affordable housing while protecting the natural environment we all love. Transition’s goal was to increase our community resilience, as part of its mission to better prepare Salt Spring for climate change and other significant challenges heading our way.
In the months since then, the Common Ground process has done that and more: it has produced a web of new relationships (and friendships) that are already leading to a new level of cooperation between our non-profits, some of whom are our biggest landlords. It has led to discussions about the possibility of a community housing association, and how to find alternative financing to help subsidize affordable housing projects at a time when rising land and construction costs are making it extremely difficult for those projects to become reality.
But the Common Ground process always had a primary goal: to give meaningful input to our Local Trust Committee (LTC) as they prepare to revise our official community plan (OCP) and accompanying land use bylaws (LUBs). The most important window for that input has now opened and will close on Oct. 24. This represents a unique opportunity to take action, and the great news is that the Common Ground process has also produced a holistic package of solutions we call the Consensus for the Future, which you can support quickly and easily.
This package, developed from hundreds of hours of consultation with a diverse group of community representatives about Salt Spring’s priorities, has been aligned with the three “lenses” that the LTC has requested for OCP input on housing: climate change, whole ecosystems and Indigenous interests. It has also been revised by a planner for legality and feasibility, taking into account feedback from participants in the process, including representatives of local government agencies.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a difference on affordable housing. And it will only take a few minutes of your time!
People can learn more and take action now by visiting transitionsaltspring.com/ocp.