Former Regional Director Jim Abram may have been confusing the proposed SRD Housing Service with a Federal grant program when he criticized it during an interview with CKTZ News.
Abram claimed that building permits are required under the new housing initiative, and the islands are ‘going to get nothing, most likely, other than, you know, a little less money in your pocketbook because it’s going to go into your taxes.’
He also spoke against the ‘affordable housing bandwagon’: ‘There’s only so many people that you can accommodate with your existing infrastructure.’
Mark Vonesch, Regional Director for Cortes Island, responded, “The points that he’s making that have alarmed a lot of people, in my opinion very unnecessarily, and are not based on the facts. The housing service is about developing a way for us to requisition a small amount of tax from people. The average property on Cortes is going to pay $31.80 maximum (per year). For 2024, right now it’s at zero. We have nothing planned. It’s going to be used for us to collectively pool our money to make housing happen.”
So let’s look at some of Abram’s facts.
CC: Is there any requirement for building permits under the proposed SRD housing service?
Mark Vonesch: “The short answer is no, the Regional District Housing Service has nothing in it that says we have to have building permits.”
“What Jim’s referring to as far as building permits, is the Housing Accelerator Fund. So this is one grant that the Regional District has applied for. Part of the requirement of the grant is having a way to measure new housing builds and the internal measurement for that is traditionally housing permits.”
Regional Director Robin Mawhinney of Area C mentioned the confusion between the Accelerator fund and proposed SRD housing service, in her December 12th Directors Newsletter. Even if the SRD application is approved. Cortes island, Area C and Area A will not be able to obtain Accelerator funding because we do not use building permits.
(This is a grant and unrelated to the SRD housing service, which is seeking to raise startup capital through our property taxes.*)
CC: So why don’t we use building permits?
Mark Vonesch: “My sense is Cortes does not want a building permit. We have some of the best builders around on our island, and they are building to the code, whether we have building permits or not.”
Robyn Mawhinney: “I haven’t heard from any residents on Quadra Island who are in favour of adding another level of local government oversight and fees that would be associated with building service and building permits and building inspections. Creating a new bylaw or service is a lot of work for staff and for me and for the community to attend community meetings and weigh in on things like that. It’s not something that I’m pursuing unless I hear a reason why we should be, and I haven’t heard one yet.”
Abram also claims that Cortes and Quadra islands have reached their capacity in terms of population.
Mark Vonesch: “That’s a fine statement to say. Somebody else could say we haven’t reached our capacity, but what data are you actually looking at to make that statement?”
“One of the things that I’m moving forward on, together with the Cortes Housing Society, is looking quite seriously at ‘what is our capacity?’ First of all, starting with the base, what is the health of our aquifer? What is the health of our watershed? Where can we have more development that’s going to be sustainable in the long term? And how can we do development in a way that is ecologically sensitive, that recognizes our imprint on the land but also produces housing.”
“I think that’s a real balance, but that kind of statement without any data to put behind it is alarmist. It gets people riled up, similar to his statement around the building codes. It’s not necessary.”
CC: Would the housing service be a good thing for Quadra island?
Robyn Mawhinney: “I think there will certainly be indirect benefits. We do have the Discovery Islands Affordable Housing Society on Quadra Island who has begun the work of building their society and looking towards solutions for Quadra Island and regarding affordable housing. When the time is right for that organization to be looking for funds to borrow for a project, it’s great to know that the Strathcona Regional District can be a participant and a player in that process with this Regional Housing Service. Otherwise, the Strathcona Regional District would not be able to be involved.”
CC: Would the housing service be a good thing for Cortes island?
Mark Vonesch: “The housing service is something that I’m actually really excited about. All of the municipalities and the electoral areas across the Strathcona Regional District are coming together and saying housing is a priority.”
“We have to make a difference on housing because it’s a social issue, because it’s an economic issue, and it’s the right thing to do. This new housing service is going to allow us to pool our money and look at ways that we can get worker housing built below market rates.”
“One of the challenges in the Strathcona Regional District, and certainly on Cortes, is that we are a place that people love to be. People love to holiday here. There’s a highly competitive market that locals can’t compete with for land and this housing service is going to open up the door and the potential for us to do some really creative things that are going to make housing more available for people here.”
*Editor’s Note (added Dec 16): There is an additional level of complication to this discussion, in that the SRD needed to try setting up a housing service in order to apply for the Accelerator Grant. (See SRD looking into establishing a Housing Service.) As Cortes and Quadra Islands cannot access this funding (we do not use building permits), our question has been whether we would benefit from a housing service. The Comox Valley and Cowichan Regional Districts have housing services. Regional Director Mark Vonesch believes that Cortes would benefit from an SRD Housing Service. (See: Mark Vonesch: How A Little Government Can Address The Housing Crisis and Cortes Island’s First Housing Forum.)
Top image credit: Building Inspector – contributed to Wikimedia Commons by National Archives at College Park – Still Pictures (Public Domain)
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