Affordability

The Waterfront Walkway

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I like the waterfront walkway project – there was significant consultation around it and it’s a fantastic plan. In its essence, the citizens have clearly made a decision in support of this project – including myself. Yet, I find myself having a bit of a love/hate relationship with this project. Not because of what it is, but because of its designed flaws and what that means.

To be clear, I’m not saying that the design is flawed. What I’m saying is that the designed survey was flawed and in my opinion, I think it should be revisited around the Departure Bay aspect in particular. The issue as I see it, is of the questions that were asked in relation to the most expensive portion (Departure Bay), and I think it’s of importance because it significantly affects our budget and project planning over the next few years.

If you just want to get right down to financial implications and consider some other options which could help reduce the financial impact in 2019, you’ll find that near the end of this post.

A survey’s value is only as good as its design

You might recall that in the surveying, it asked for people’s priorities around completion of the walkway segments and Departure Bay was marked as the highest. It also asked if we would rather upgrade sections before new sections are developed, or vise versa. It then asked whether an elevated boardwalk or a raised on-beach path was preferred. This all done without having any kind of numbers and implications being presented. Talk about loaded questions!

It was kind of like asking if you wanted to have gold or silver, whether you wanted to exchange your aluminum for magnesium, and what your priority of that was in relation to bronze, copper, steel, and iron – all without knowing what the difference in costs between them all are and how it might impact the wallet. Ok, maybe this is a poor example – I mean, I think most people at least recognize the impact to the wallet between gold and silver. But do most people recognize the impacts all combined?

If everyone knew at the time that the two different options for the Departure Bay section were going to cost $3.6M or $12M, would their choice have been different? And if they knew the cost for that section, would it have been their top priority? Would it have changed their answers at all around any of the questions? Without a doubt, it would have for at least some.

While I suspect that the $12M option would likely still have been chosen (I mean it is a pretty decent option and I’ve seen some pretty great examples of this option in action), but would it have been prioritized further down the road? I suspect the answer to that might have been yes too. It’s definitely just a guess, but we won’t know whether that guess is correct until questions of this nature are asked.

We need all the information

People aren’t stupid; they realize that this large amount of money has impact, and they should have a say towards that impact. There was an opportunity to give input towards aspects of the waterfront walkway – which affects impact – but it was a very limited opportunity, because priority aspects of the waterfront walkway aren’t the only thing that needs to be prioritized – the waterfront walkway is just one project in the big picture which needs to be prioritized, and I believe people generally recognize that.

In fact, I think if given the choice between this and other projects, many might not consider this one to be the top priority. I personally don’t consider it to be the top priority. But regardless, to make properly informed decisions we need all the information and at the time that these decisions were made – we didn’t have all the information. And since the project hasn’t started yet, it’s also not too late to revisit.

You can find the full plan here if you haven’t reviewed it yet: https://www.nanaimo.ca/docs/your-government/projects/2016-waterfront-walkway/waterfront-walkway—final-plan.pdf

How it fits into the budget

Just to make sure we’re all on the same page, it’s also worth clarifying the $5.2M that you see applied towards this in 2019’s budget, isn’t quite representative of what many are probably perceiving it to mean – the $5.2M isn’t coming directly out of taxes this year (in other words if we were to theoretically stop the project, it wouldn’t mean that 5% in reduction of taxes would be possible), but what it does mean is that it’s the trigger for a 20 year loan of which we’ll be paying approximately $2M every year over that time. In other words, up to around $2M is coming out of the 2019 budget towards the waterfront project.

So what does this all really mean?

It means the project has a large impact on the budget, and it means we didn’t have enough information at the time. It also means that there’s also some options which haven’t been explored, and that everyone needs to be aware of that in their consideration towards this project and the budget.

Here are some of the ramifications and potential options here, focusing strictly on the financial aspects:

  • If we proceed as planned, we’re looking at around $2M/yr for the next 20 years starting in 2019
  • If we were to choose the less expensive option for the Departure Bay segment it would save approximately $8.4M and result in a reduced taxation impact of roughly around .5M/yr over the next 20 years.
  • If we were to delay the Departure Bay portion with the current option, and prioritize the other sections higher, there would be a direct effect on yearly taxes until that portion proceeds – roughly around $.8M, or .8% in taxes – whether that be applied towards a reduction in taxes, or towards other projects considered to be of higher priority.
  • If we were to delay the entire waterfront project for a year, there would be a direct effect on taxes – roughly around $2M, or 2% in taxes – whether that be applied towards a reduction in taxes, or towards other projects considered to be of higher priority.

With this all considered, I would suggest that asking the citizens once more about this Departure Bay section both regarding the path option and towards its prioritization would be a good idea. The original surveying was flawed, and this is a significant expenditure that is preventing other projects from starting. Now is the perfect time to have this discussion.

For myself, as it sits currently from what is known – my personal preference would be to delay the Departure Bay portion for this year (as long as it won’t affect the federal funding that has been conditionally allocated). Take that $.8M or .8% in taxes and apply it towards reducing the significant tax increase anticipated for 2019, or approach the many other priorities that are of importance.

What’s your preference?

Is the waterfront walkway project the most important to you in 2019 – specifically the Departure Bay section, or do you think there are other priorities that are more important to start taking care of first – whether that be the other sections of the walkway, or other project based priorities, or towards tax reduction measures?

Affordable Housing is Beautiful

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Today I had an unexpected opportunity to check out the affordable homes at 1406 Bowen Road – there was a birthday party happening there and I needed to help someone get there to attend. I was excited, I’ve been wanting to check out this beautiful award-winning complex for quite some time.

As we drove into the parking lot for the very first time, we were greeted by someone near the entrance with a smile and a wave. It actually caught me a bit by surprise as I didn’t know them and they didn’t know us. That made me smile and I waved back – what a pleasant place!

We began to walk over to the home where the birthday party was being held. I noticed that there were a few others walking through the complex to get where they needed to go, and even with the rain, there was clearly an upbeat energy in the air.

We walked past some of the shared spaces and through the two rows of very well designed, beautiful housing until we reached the destination. The sense of community is without a doubt very strong here. It feels good.

I introduced myself and we had a great conversation, and my curiosity got the best of me – I had to ask more about their home. They smiled proudly and welcomed me in to come check it out. They explained how the energy efficient system works, and they showed me around their beautiful home that they’ve personalized and made theirs. It was very nice!

How hardship turned into a success story

They also shared how they got there. In their circumstance, late last year their family was in a rental in Harewood which had a serious flooding issue and they had to move – but they had no place to go. In this market, that’s a pretty serious thing for many to face because as we all know (we do all know this right?), affordability is a serious problem here in Nanaimo for many youth, seniors, and others.

This family was lucky – they were able to be placed into a hotel for two months under the emergency social services program. However, things began to get worse, as they can when you don’t have a stable home to call your own.

They became homeless and ended up living in their mini-van. Their children were taken away because they didn’t have a home, and although they had been approved for this new housing – it wasn’t ready yet so they were in a limbo state.

In fact, they were very close to having to live in tent city – and that’s not surprising – when there are little resources and help available (many people are only a few paychecks away from being homeless) difficult choices need to be made all along the way.

Thankfully they made it through, and into a home. Their family is moving forward in positive directions now – they have a place to call their own, they are all back together as a family, they have jobs and help support each other through this journey called life.

It’s a success story, but it’s not always that way

Often people just need a hand up for them to turn their story into one of success, and this was one of those times. There are many difficult circumstances that can lead to homelessness though, and I’d like to begin exploring that further in future posts. I hope you’ll join me.

Do you have a story to share?

The Concept of Smaller Homes

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Housing affordability is a serious issue in Nanaimo that affects many young adults, seniors, and others with modest incomes in our community – over 25% of all households in Nanaimo face a housing affordability issue!

Have you wondered what it might look like if we were to tackle this issue through smaller homes?

I’ve attached a small variety of pictures within, of concepts that were recently completed by Dr. Avi Friedman, for Chemainus – he was tasked with providing a variety of concepts which show what could be done with two specific areas in Chemainus in relation to planning for smaller, sustainable housing environments. The pictures provided here are for a specific infill area.

Small Homes Concept - Single Family and Duplex Units with Shared Spaces

Small Homes Concept – Single Family and Duplex Units with Shared Spaces

I first met Dr. Friedman, a very knowledgeable world-renowned affordable housing expert, earlier this summer after attending one of his powerful lectures about Housing Innovation on Saltspring where he spoke about what is being done around the world, and showing what can be done locally. Dr. Friedman resides in Montreal and is a professor at McGill University.

We discussed the problems faced here in Nanaimo, and I asked him if he would be willing to come and present a lecture here so that leadership and the community as a whole could better understand what we’re really facing here and what is required to move forward on the possibilities and difficulties that exist – to open up the conversation and start building momentum towards taking things to the next step. He was very welcoming of that request and said to the essence of “the biggest problem is in getting leadership to be bold and embrace the possibilities”.

When we touched base recently in Duncan, he welcomed me with a smile and after our conversation reiterated that he was committed to taking his time to come here and speaking with us as a community, and we talked about scheduling logistics.

There is so much to talk about around concepts of this nature, but I want to start by talking about one concept in particular – single-family units. I bring this one up because it touches on a concept I have brought up in my platform and describe what needs to be done at the municipal level in order to open up opportunities to own a small affordable piece of land with a home to be proud of.

Small Homes Concept - Single Family Units with Shared Spaces

Small Homes Concept – Single Family Units with Shared Spaces

You’ll notice in that concept, the houses are unevenly spaced – and that’s by design; the goals in this concept were to utilize this particular space without clearing out all the trees – to take advantage of the beautiful natural environment and work with it, and introduce shared spaces that deliver what becomes a community of its own, while still keeping the autonomy intact of having a house and a small piece of land to call your own.

This single-family unit concept essentially doubles the density in relation to standard single family dwelling sized lots – yet it brings so much more than that – it promotes and provides for a healthy community through shared spaces.

What I think all of these concepts really do overall, is that they help give a sense of what small housing can be – whether it be single family dwellings, duplexes, triplexes, or even denser developments. They are developments which are specifically designed and planned in ways that embrace the characteristics of the city, its neighbourhood, and its specific location. In other words, while these concepts are for that specific area in Chemainus – how ours would be designed and planned might look much different – but the characteristics would be the same – sustainable small housing with shared spaces.

Small Homes Concept - Single Family and Duplex Units with Shared Spaces

Small Homes Concept – Single Family and Duplex Units with Shared Spaces

But, we can’t have small sustainable housing until we support innovative planning and lead changes to our bylaws and policies which permit these well planned, sustainable, affordable environments.

It’s complicated further as there’s unfortunately also a stigma which exists that connects affordable with “cheap” and “undesirable”, and other visuals – and that creates barriers. Affordable housing can be, and is, beautiful – when it’s planned well and done right.

This is why in my platform I have suggested that we should raise the priority of specific policy direction items in our Affordable Housing Strategy from 3-5 years to the 1-2 years around increasing community engagement and education, supporting infill and intensification in single detached neighbourhoods, and reducing barriers to tiny homes.

It’s going to take time for this all to happen, and we need to get started now – not later. We need to begin taking care of the future – for our children, our seniors, and others with modest incomes that need housing which is affordable.

What are your thoughts?