Tag Archives: Cortes Island Housing

Housing, Poverty

What the Cortes Housing Survey Says: Problems And Possibilities

Two hundred and sixty-five people (265) filled out responses to the Cortes Island Housing survey which was carried out by the Cortes Community Housing Society and Regional Director Mark Vonesch. While this is only about 30% of the adult population, their answers provide a clear picture of the current housing situation, as well as specific areas where the majority of the population appear to support change.

“Other housing surveys they’ve done in the past have just broken over 100, so people are really engaged around this issue,” explained Vonesch. “40% of the people who responded to the survey have been here for over 20 years, which is significant.  The people that have been here for a long time and seen a lot of changes over the years and seen the way that Cortes is going and where it’s at now and where it has been.” 

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Housing

Cortes Island’s First Housing Forum

About 100 people came together for Cortes Island’s first Housing Forum on Saturday, December 2, in Mansons Hall.   

There were break-out sessions devoted to tiny homes, rental housing, short term rentals, worker housing, empty homes, landlord-tenant relations, home upgrades and making land and home ownership more affordable. A session devoted to environmental issues was added at the last minute. 

The Forum began with opening addresses by Regional Director Mark Vonesch and Sadhu Johnston, Executive Director of the Cortes Community Housing Society.  

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Housing, Politics

Mark Vonesch: How A Little Government Can Address The Housing Crisis

At 9:30 AM on Dec 2, Regional Director Mark Vonesch will be joining the Cortes Housing Society to host a community forum in Mansons Hall.* In today’s interview, he gave a sampling of how a little government could help make housing more affordable 

“We are in a housing crisis. Housing is expensive to build and we don’t have enough of it. What can we do as a community in Cortes to get more affordable housing done? Like a lot of issues, we have to approach this from multiple angles. There’s not one thing that’s going to  solve the problem. It’s basically three things.”

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Housing

The December 2nd Housing Forum at Mansons Hall

Editor’s note: the time for this event has been changed to 9:30, as now written below.

The Cortes Community Housing Society and Regional Director Mark Vonesch will be teaming up to hold a Housing Forum at Mansons Hall from 9:30 AM to 12:00 on December 2nd. 

“Cortes is a very innovative community. We have an incredible ‘can do’ resilient spirit on this island and have done amazing things. I do think that Cortes could be a real leader for the province, and the country, around rural housing solutions. With the resources and the ingenuity, the land, the partnerships, I think we can do some amazing things here on Cortes,” explained Sadhu Johnston, Executive Director of the Cortes Community Housing Society. 

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Housing, Politics

SRD Seeks Electoral Approval To Raise Up To $10 Million For A Housing Service

The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) wants to set up its own housing service. They hope to raise up to $10,000,000 for applicable projects and non-profits. This is to be administered through loans, which projects must pay back, but would initially be funded through property taxes. The cost to individual homeowners is small, up to $25 a year for a house assessed at $500,000 until the service pays for itself. The SRD will be seeking your approval through an Alternate Approval Process. If 10% of the electorate (i.e.- 3,456 people) notify the SRD that they are opposed to this new service before 12:00 noon on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, it will be considered defeated and the SRD will have to consider other ways of raising the money.

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