District of North Vancouver council is advancing two affordable housing projects – one in Lynn Creek and another in the Inter River neighbourhood.
Council voted unanimously on Oct. 3 to schedule a public hearing for a 65-unit supportive housing project for people facing homelessness. If approved, the six-storey building on the northeast corner of Keith Road and Mountain Highway will be run by the Lu’ma Native Housing Society, which currently operates supportive housing at the former Travelodge site in the Lions Gate neighbourhood. Vancouver Coastal Health will also fund five complex care suites in the building.
The district has been in negotiations with the province to repurpose the land for supportive housing, including 24/7 staffing, self-contained studio suites, but also communal space where tenants will take meals, receive services and make connections.
Mayor Mike Little cautioned council members, saying they are expected to keep an open mind leading up to the public hearing, although some members of council signalled their unambiguous support.
“We know that one of the most effective ways for us as a municipality to help these folks is to leverage land that the district owns by partnering with other organizations to build and operate the sort of housing that will help the most vulnerable in our community,” said Coun. Jordan Back. “I think as councillors in the District of North Vancouver, it’s incumbent upon us to do everything we can do to help the situation and I’m pleased to support this.”
Coun. Catherine Pope cited the growing numbers of people sleeping outside at night, but also those staying in vehicles or couching surfing, and warned things are likely to get worse.
“Because of the skyrocketing cost of rents, I think we’re on the verge of seeing a real tsunami of people who find themselves homeless,” she said. “This supportive housing development needs to be built as soon as possible, in my opinion, so that we can take care of the less fortunate and vulnerable in our community.”
Coun. Lisa Muri supported sending the project to a public hearing, but she cautioned that council, staff and Lu’ma should all be prepared to answer public concerns about issues that frequently come up when new supportive housing projects are being considered – security, drug and alcohol consumption, and calls for service to the RCMP.
“For these projects to be successful, the community needs to support them,” she said. “I hope that we can use the success stories of Lu’ma to be able to describe how we take people from a place where they are not housed and struggling to a place of success.”
The only member of the public to speak to council about the proposal suggested that council include a requirement in the bylaw that the operator of the supportive housing co-operate with police when investigations lead officers to the housing site.
In his remarks, Little emphasized that the project would ultimately work better than other ones on the North Shore.
“I absolutely recognize the need for this type of housing in our community and I absolutely recognize the insufficiency of the current housing project over at Travelodge,” he said. “Good building design can help manage a lot of the risks that this kind of housing could present in the community. I hope that’s a big part of the discussion that we have in the public hearing.”
Immediately following the debate and unanimous vote on the Lu’ma project, council supported a proposal to build below-market rental housing on district-owned land on Lillooet Road, immediately north of the Holiday Inn.
Although there is not yet a non-profit housing partner lined up to build the project, council is anticipating the district will receive provincial funding after rezoning the land to allow for a six-storey building containing between 100 and 180 homes.
Under the BC Housing formula, 20 per cent of the units will be capped at rates affordable to people on social assistance, and half of the suites will be at no more than 30 per cent of the gross income for households within a proscribed income range. The remaining units will be at higher but still below-market rates.
Most comments from council showed support for the concept and the process.
“We are in a housing crisis. We know it. We desperately need affordable housing in the District of North Vancouver,” Pope said, adding that it could help provide workforce housing.
Muri voted in favour of sending the project forward, but also suggested the proposed building might not be a good fit for the site.
“I never expected this site to hold that kind of density. I thought it would be something smaller, that would fit in more with sort of the surrounding densities, and I just find this density to be a bit big on this particular site,” she said.
The Lu’ma project is tentatively scheduled for a public hearing on Nov. 21. Council will hear from the public on the Lillooet road project on Oct. 24.
