A 90-unit affordable housing and market rental proposal on the corner of Prosser and East Saanich roads in Brentwood Bay has been delayed, but Kaye Melliship, executive director of the Greater Victoria Housing Society (GVHS), is still a strong supporter of the project.
While the issue was to have come up at a May 7 council meeting, the developer has asked for a pause while they divide the property into two fee simple lots so both partners could manage their own buildings.
RELATED:
Melliship said Stride Properties asked the Society if they wanted to partner, saying the lot was large enough to accommodate two buildings. They said yes, partly because GVHS is building another property on the north end of Brentwood Village. Melliship said B次元官网网址渋t would be great to have another building in Central SaanichB次元官网网址� to cut down on overhead, because people who maintain these buildings would not have to travel as far.
B次元官网网址淎ll those savings get passed on to the tenants,B次元官网网址� said Melliship.
Melliship said nearby Legion Manor could also be considered affordable housing, with 78 one-bedroom apartments for low income seniors and an additional 68 one-bedroom assisted-living suites for seniors. However, Melliship said the demand far outstrips supply, with studies done specifically on the Saanich Peninsula and the broader capital region for rental housing and affordable housing.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 not of ton of affordable housing on the Peninsula. ThereB次元官网网址檚 certainly a demand for more,B次元官网网址� said Melliship.
The 40-unit GVHS building will house a mix of families, singles and seniors with low to moderate income earners. The mix of incomes, she said, would be beneficial in a community but also within a building, B次元官网网址渟o thereB次元官网网址檚 a range of aspirations and different life outcomes, so it makes for a better social environment,B次元官网网址� said Melliship. In addition, she said it was a B次元官网网址渧ery expensive proposition nowadaysB次元官网网址� to build a building that is 100 per cent affordable to low-income residents.
B次元官网网址淏ack in the day it was only very low-income people that needed housing assistance, but now itB次元官网网址檚 a much broader range of people in our community,B次元官网网址� said Melliship, including working people and seniors with reliable pensions.
Melliship said she has heard the neighbourhood concerns about parking, and said each unit would have one parking stall, in addition to 14 visitor stalls, for 104 in total (most of which would be underground). As it stands, the Land Use Bylaw would require 158 stalls.
Low-to-moderate income people have less ability to purchase a car, said Melliship, and renters typically have a lower rate of car ownership, so parking demands for those buildings are lower than higher-end buildings. The GVHS has 14 other properties, so Melliship said the Society has quite a lot of experience with parking demand in these settings. Their own study of similar developments found an average parking demand of 0.59 spaces per unit, whereas the Central Saanich Land Use Bylaw requires 1.75 spaces per unit. Melliship said they also want to accommodate the renters that do have cars, so by providing 1.15 spaces per unit, Melliship said they will provide enough parking to exceed their own needs.
Letters sent to Central Saanich council expressed concern about an increase in vehicle traffic. In information submitted to Central Saanich staff, the proponent estimated that a market-price apartment building of the same size would generate an additional 35-40 additional vehicle trips per hour, so an affordable development of the same size would likely generate fewer trips than that. The report found the increase in traffic was to have B次元官网网址渕inimal impacts on traffic capacity of travel times on East Saanich Rd.B次元官网网址�
Letter writers have also expressed concern over the size of the buildings, but Melliship said the site has a unique advantage. The four and five-storey buildings are built on a slope, with the ground floors much lower than the surrounding homes, so the top of the tallest building is about three feet taller than the surrounding building.
B次元官网网址淭he peaks of the roofs of our buildings are almost the same as the neighbours,B次元官网网址� said Melliship, who added, B次元官网网址渢heoretically people could people a large single-family house without lowering the property, and it would be higher than [the neighbouring] properties.B次元官网网址�
The proposal is denser than a series of townhomes, but Melliship said it is a more efficient use of limited space.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e building for the next 50 years. We need to be good stewards of the land and using it most effectively now,B次元官网网址� said Melliship.
reporter@peninsulanewsreview.com
Like us on and follow us on
