Gabriola Island Affordable Housing Needs Assessment

Extracted text (beginning)

[[page 1]]
—

Islan d S Trust

Gabriola Island
Affordable Housing Needs Assessment

THE REAL ESTATE PE REGIONAL
DISTRICT
FOUNDATION eae DISTRICT

Me!) OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Final Report

November 26, 2009

Submitted by: Weller Consulting Inc

This report was prepared under contract to the Islands Trust, funded jointly by the
islands Trust, Regional District of Nanaimo and the Real Estate Foundation. The
information and opinions provided in this report are those of the consultant and the
community members consulted during the process and are not necessarily the views of
the Gabriola Island Local Trust Committee or feasible under current legislation.

ijPage

[[page 2]]
Executive Summary

The following report outlines the results of a feasibility study aimed at identifying the
current status of accessible housing on Gabriola Island, the challenges, and some
recommended actions. The current status as identified through statistical analysis
includes dramatic increases in housing prices, increasing rent while income levels
remain the same, reduced diversity of age within the population, and a lack of
affordable housing options. The challenges expressed by residents interviewed can be
seen in the statistics. The challenges include housing security, affordability,
environmental impact, diversity, supported living needs, substandard housing,
homelessness and lack of organizational structure.

The recommended actions were identified through research into other comparable
communities and public input. They fall into two main categories. The first group of
actions relates specifically to the need for some form of housing organization on
Gabriola Island and the actions that can be undertaken by that organization or
consortium of organizations. Recommended actions include accessing funding both for
housing itself as well as for supports, researching the various forms of affordable
housing, providing information about rights and grants as well as matching tenants and
landlords. An additional structure, a seniors’ council, comprised of the various
organizations on the islands linked to services for seniors, is also recommended.

The second group of actions are the responsibility of the local government bodies. The
majority of these are the responsibility of the Gabriola Local Trust Committee, Islands
Trust. Some potential changes to the Official Community Plan (OCP) were identified
through this research including an ecological footprint analysis as the basis for approval
of affordable housing applications, special or alternative zoning, additional residential
units on properties if compliant with an ecological footprint analysis, density transfer or
down-zoning. It is recommended that a deeper analysis and information gathering be
carried out regarding these potential changes and that the results of that analysis
inform the upcoming OCP review for Gabriola. There are also recommended actions for
both the Regional District of Nanaimo (reduced water use incentives

First 3,000 characters. Open the original for the whole document.