By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot

     Housing is a focal point for strong and healthy communities and a panel of experts shared how they are encouraging their municipalities and developers to provide homes for future generations.
    “We should not be looking at affordable and sustainable housing as for ‘those’ people because those people are your neighbours, friends and colleagues,” said panelist Savanna Myers, the Director of Economic Development, Tourism and Culture for Grey County. “There are big, big rocks that people live under.” And she wasn’t referring to location.
    The Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) attitude is the wrong approach, said Nancy Orr, a builder of business and community who is based in Stratford. She led the panel discussion at the Rural Talks to Rural conference held in Brussels in October. However, changing perceptions and getting approvals for housing is not a fast process. Myers has learned the development process can “take forever.”
    “There are so many players to listen to and in the grand scheme of things, it can take five years to get going,” she said. However, she is excited about the Community Improvement Plan Grey County developed. It required tremendous amounts of legwork, research and policy development but resulted in tax grants, surplus land grants and plans to increase housing stock via secondary units, multi-unit housing and purpose-built rental housing, among other options. It also promoted the development, redevelopment and/or conversion of brownfield, vacant, and grey field properties while supporting the adaptive re-use of commercial, industrial and institutional buildings
    The result has been the creation of 500 purposeful rentals with another 419 to be created in Hanover.
    “We see a spectrum of housing builders come on board when local municipalities, county councils and developers come together,” said Myers. “This was a big win but it took a long time to get there even though housing is the number one question people have when thinking of coming to our region.”
    Partnering with municipalities to find land to build on is a method that worked for the Lennox-Addington Housing Portfolio in Prince Edward County. “We were able to access three different plots to build and expect occupancy in March 2023,” shared panelist Connor Dorey, Manager at Prince Edward - Lennox & Addington Social Services. He added that it is one thing to build, it’s another to keep relationships healthy. “We are building affordable and rent-geared-to-income units and this mixed market model is to get away from the ghettoization of affordable housing,” he said.
Where and How to Build
    Rural communities do not want to encroach on farmland and green spaces but where can affordable housing be built?
    Myers said Grey County uses a settlement approach when thinking of housing. “Families need transportation, access to child care and access to work. We want to build where people want to live because that is where the rest of life happens,” she said. “We encourage a settlement life approach and this is a conversation we have quite a bit.”
    As building rules change, there are more opportunities to build triplexes and quad-plexes. Caroline Baker of the Baker Planning Group based in Stratford said Huron County is now allowing quad-plexes to be built on smaller properties and “that is a solution that helps.”
Collaboration
    “The housing challenge is not new and not unique to any one area and we believe collaboration is the key,” said panelist Glen McNeil, Mayor of Ashfield/Colborne/Wawanosh. As Warden of Huron County, he said Huron created a homelessness task force which led to the approval of a housing proposal for 39 units of which 10 are supportive-unit housing. “The build will cost $20 million and I am proud that Huron County had the fortitude to do the right thing,” said McNeil. The county did not own the land for the build so discussions are ongoing with local municipalities to bring the project to fruition. “When we work together and do not care who gets the credit, it is amazing what we can accomplish.
    Baker agreed. “I did a project in Goderich with a developer and with the municipality at the table, we got approvals for apartment plans where the builder can include 15 affordable units in the building,” she said. Staff and council worked together and the process was done in one year. There are requirements about the apartment being maintained and reports will be required in order to continue receiving grants from the municipality.
    “The private sector came forward and the municipality brought forth the idea that affordable and attainable housing should be considered and the applicant was willing to provide it” said Baker.
Reducing Stigma of 
Affordable Housing
    “The Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) belief is hard,” admits Myers. “Everyone expects to be able to go to a restaurant and enjoy culture and recreation but they don’t support housing for those workers to live.” She wanted to educate people that DENSITY is not a dirty word.
    “It’s almost a one-on-one conversation that needs to happen. We have a lot of work to do.”
    Baker agrees. “It feels like it has gotten worse over COVID-19. Generally, people are disgruntled,” she said. With so much going on in the world, and then getting a notice about a new building asking for their opinion, Baker is finding people ARE giving their opinion. “NIMBY puts people in distinctive camps instead of working together,” she said. She wondered if the timing of public meetings could be more inclusive to allow other segments of the population to attend and voice their opinions.
    That’s where transparency can play a role, says Dorey. “It’s part of human nature that there will be naysayers but we should not let them drag the conversations and decisions that need to be made. He said councils and developers should be completely transparent about their roles and plans for builds because that is the way to get buy-in. “And honestly, do not say it is one kind of development and then let it be something else.”
    Panelist Ryan Deska,  Director of  Community Engagement & Development with Habitat for Humanity in Guelph/Wellington said it's important to get the community involved. “What we emphasize with Habitat for Humanity housing is that this is being built FOR community BY the community. Then people feel a sense of ownership.”
Preparation for Council
    The more information the better, said Mayor McNeil. “If the council is supplied with sufficient and accurate information, they will make the correct decisions.” Staff plays a big role in educating and assisting the council in this process.
    Also, considering community advocacy, McNeil said that is a long game. “It’s about building relationships and bridges.” Mutual respect is something that is not granted, it is earned.
    Baker said it’s important developers have technical expertise on traffic and parking when proposing a development. “All that technical information can go a long way.” In her experience, the proposals that have been successful have been ones that take a community-minded approach to the application. 
If Wishes were Fishes….
    Myers said rules need to change to allow affordable housing developments to proceed. Many areas have minimal square footage requirements that are outdated and prevent smaller, attainable homes from being built. 
    Baker agreed on this point as well, saying some developers get caught in providing the same requirements for small builds as compared to large builds. For instance, site approvals might be the same for a triplex as for much larger builds, which adds months of approvals and drawings which causes delays and higher costs. “It can discourage these small opportunities,” she said.
    Dorey said data is required to make evidence-based decisions to identify projects that need to be worked on. 
    McNeil said people should be open-minded and not limit their vision. “People are social by nature. They want to live in places with services they can utilize. A lot of discussion we are having about the size of homes and tiny homes … we never had these discussions 10 years ago. We need to be open to new ways of doing things that will set us up to address the challenges we do have.”  ◊