By GARY HOLMAN
SSI CRD DIRECTOR
The pessimism in some of the contributions to the Jan. 1 edition’s year-end review, particularly regarding housing, deserves a response.
Being constructed or renovated right now, are 36 units of supported and worker housing on the Capital Regional District (CRD)’s Drake Road property, 18 units of health-worker housing at Bittancourt Road and the nine-unit Dean Road boarding house. This housing development follows projects such as Croftonbrook (54 units) and Salt Spring Commons (24 units). All of these projects received approval by the Islands Trust, which has also legalized suites or cottages on hundreds of properties, including farm-worker housing on agricultural land.
The Housing Now landlord-tenant matching program is being implemented on Salt Spring Island (SSI), funded partly by our CRD Local Community Commission (LCC) and the Southern Gulf Islands Tourism Partnership, which has also committed online visitor tax revenue for affordable housing. The CRD is implementing a Rural Housing Program in the Southern Gulf islands and SSI electoral areas, that includes a coordinator position, suite incentives and project pre-development funding. The CRD is also establishing another regional housing fund of $84 million, and seeks matching senior government funds.
SSI’s major housing projects have required tens of millions in CRD or senior government funding. Our recently established 30-unit year-round shelter and 10-unit extreme weather facility is also supported by BC Housing funding of over $1 million annually. With BC Housing’s fully funded, 32-unit supported housing facility on Drake Road, SSI is the only CRD community (except Victoria) providing this level of support for our unhoused residents.
Far from being “paralyzed” or “doing nothing” on housing, as some suggest, SSI has a record of success, even with a water moratorium in place, that few communities of our size in B.C. can match. The North Salt Spring Waterworks District’s proposal to partially lift the water moratorium in its Maxwell Lake service area will help further housing development on the CRD’s Drake Road property (now leased to BC Housing, which is also considering funding for two other housing projects here). The CRD LCC is also leasing the former Phoenix School property on Drake Road, which has future housing potential, and is already rented to the Chuan Society for The Hearth warming centre.
I hope that one year-end contributor, anticipating “another dismal year on the horizon,” can look beyond the rooster controversy. In addition to housing, millions in funding from the CRD helped create the new Lady Minto emergency room, and the new fire hall will be completed next year. The fire district has transferred the Ganges fire hall to the CRD for re-purposing. Similarly, the middle school leased by SD64 to the CRD has been transformed into a well-used 25,000-square-foot community centre. The repaving of Ganges Hill will be completed next year and the LCC will continue other pedestrian and cycling infrastructure improvements in Ganges.
The fact we are making good progress as a community doesn’t mean there is nothing more to do. But future success depends in part on understanding what we’re doing right, including, as the Driftwood rightly notes, our community’s demonstrated ability to collaborate. This understanding will be important for our upcoming official community plan review, so we don’t jettison existing policies that support truly affordable housing in the right locations.