A plan to entice developers in Essex to build more affordable housing is on hold until councillors can hear from the Windsor-Essex Housing Corporation.
Administration says there is pent up demand for more affordable housing and is proposing a development charge rebate for affordable and special need housing projects in the town. The plan proposes covering the rebate through the town's landfill reserve with a payback period estimated to be between four and five years as more property taxes are collected.
Deputy Mayor Richard Meloche isn't convinced the program is needed and may be a step too far.
"What I want to stop doing at this point in time is that we're subsidizing, subsidizing, subsidizing, subsidizing," says Meloche. "I don't think that we need it bad enough. I do like the housing projects that we've seen come up recently, but that's a whole different animal than what we're talking about here."
The proposed incentive for developers to build affordable housing in Essex hangs on rebates of the municipal portion of development charges, which are as follows: pic.twitter.com/teLTpTQonX
— Ricardo Veneza (@RicardoVeneza) May 22, 2018
Council approved a similar plan to jumpstart housing construction in Harrow when it scrapped development charges until August 2019 — but the fee waiver isn't tied to a specific type of housing.
Councillor Sherry Bondy felt some of her fellow councillors were being closed minded in dismissing the proposal.
"I feel like we're shutting the doors to anybody from Amherstburg moving here, anybody from Kingsville moving here. Heaven forbid we open the doors and say, 'People, move to our municipality,'" says Bondy.
Councillor Randy Voakes went a step further, pointing to 'stigma' associated with affordable housing as a reason councillors weren't enamored with the proposal.
"We're judging so, turn your mic on and tell me, 'You're wrong we're not judging,'" says Voakes. "We're judging. I wish that word 'affordable' wasn't there because it comes with a stigma."
(AM800 file photo)
Town CAO, Donna Hunter, spoke strongly in defence of the need to address affordable housing in the community and urged council to delay making a decision until being further informed. The report to council points out only 8 homes for sale across Essex, Harrow, McGregor and Colchester are listed for less than $275,000 in highlighting the growing affordability issue.
Councillor Steve Bjorkman argues he can't support the plan unless it ensures Essex residents get the first kick at the can for any new affordable housing.
"If we're going to build it and we're going to subsidize it then our residents should have priority in receiving it," says Bjorkman.
Council sided with its top administrator and tabled the proposal until a delegation from the Windsor-Essex Housing Corporation can speak to the issue at a future council meeting.