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Powell River council cools mayor’s rush for tiny homes plan

The Powell River mayor’s push to fast-track a tiny home development plan has been slowed down by the rest of council.

Mayor Ron Woznow pitched it Thursday as a new business item during a council meeting, wanting a plan from staff within five weeks.

Woznow argued for the quick move on the plan, saying a regional housing study shows Powell River needs 1,000 new housing units within four years, Premier David Eby has made housing a “number one” priority and an apartment block of 10 residents in the city is facing eviction.

He says there are local developers who want to build tiny homes but have not had “any cooperation” from the city.

“Tiny homes can provide new accommodations in a fraction of the time to build carriage houses or a large affordable housing project that is being considered for city land on Barnett (Street),” the mayor said.

While councillor George Doubt supports the idea, he doesn’t believe tiny homes are a “magic bullet” to solve every housing problem.

“I’m not going to say, I think they’re just the cat’s pajamas and we should go all out on that without having a careful, considered plan to go ahead with them and the approval of the community before we do that,” Doubt said.

Others on council, like Cindy Elliott and Earl Almeida, felt other alternatives to tiny homes should be considered, like RV pads and container homes.

The issue will come back to council in the new year after its strategic planning session.

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