Organizers of a proposed affordable housing initiative at Olive Devaud Residence said they plan to move the project forward and are working with City of Powell River to make that happen.
But Kathleen O’Neil, project coordinator for Powell River Education Services Society (PRESS), said the non-profit can not comment at this point on any progress being made with the city.
The building’s owner, Sunset Homes Society, filed a building permit application in December to start the city’s review process, which includes a further look at how the proposed usage fits into the building’s current zoning designation.
“We have to do a formal walkthrough with an architect sometime in January and the focus of who we house may turn to youth,” said O’Neil.
She added she is unsure when the initiative could move ahead and start housing participants.
The proposed affordable housing project, which PRESS is now calling Olive Devaud Village, was to go forward on January 1, but city officials stepped in to block the opening with concerns around the building’s changing occupancy and use. Of particular concern was the need to change the fire alarm system and magnetic door locks at the front of the facility.
Neighbours who live in the vicinity of the building, which was closed last year as a Vancouver Coastal Health assisted-living facility for seniors, raised concerns about the project that was widely thought to be an emergency homeless shelter.
Organizers held an open house on December 9 to explain it was a structured pilot program to provide six people of all ages, who may be at risk of homelessness, with a stable living situation; a staff-supervised quasi-halfway house.
Because the building is currently unoccupied and could potentially have a different use, it no longer qualified under its original city property tax exemption. Myrna Leishman, president of Sunset Homes Society, appeared before city council in December to ask for a grant-in-aid to cover the building’s taxes. A decision on the application has yet to be made public.
Despite city council’s recognition that developing affordable housing is a strategic priority in Powell River, councillor Maggie Hathaway said it does not mean developers will be treated differently or have any zoning or permitting rules relaxed.
“You hire staff because they are professionals,” said Hathaway.
Hathaway added while Powell River may be one of the most affordable communities in the province for housing, she recognizes it is increasingly difficult for people with low incomes to find adequate places to live.
“Affordable housing is relative to your area,” she said. “When people talk about affordable housing in [Metro Vancouver], they are talking about houses under $1 million.”
