Powell River city council is appealing to the province for help increasing the local housing supply for working people and families.
Last week council agreed to send a letter to the provincial housing ministry expressing the city’s desire to work with the province to build new homes. Councillor Cindy Elliott said it’s not about supportive housing, which is already being built, but housing that is affordable for working people.
“This is about housing for people who are working in lower income jobs, even medium income jobs,” she said at the Jan. 23 council meeting. “Folks who are working in medium income jobs now don’t necessarily have what they need to break into the market economy.”
Councillor Trina Isakson said the city has a will to deal with the need for affordable, working-class housing, but needs help from the province and its housing agency to find a way to make it happen. For example, she said the city owns several properties which could be used for housing development.
Council agreed to support Coun. Isakson’s motion that “Council write a letter to the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs to affirm our strong interest in collaborating with the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs and BC Housing in order to increase the number of affordable housing units in our community, including but not limited to housing for seniors, workers, families, and people with disabilities; village models; and second stage transition housing.”
