Councillor wants Ontario city to use city-owned lands for affordble housing projects

Using city-owned land for affordable housing is not going to solve the housing crisis by itself but delaying ideas that have worked in many other municipalities isn’t a viable solution either, says Oshawa Councillor Derek Giberson.

The Ward 4 councillor is introducing a motion Monday to direct staff to engage the public and stakeholders to identify areas considered to be “strategic priorities” for municipally-owned lands, and to use these lands as leverage in achieving objectives for housing affordability.

“We are in a housing affordability crisis,” Giberson said. “There’s a lot of work we need to do get out of the crisis. This one thing is not going to fix everything in Oshawa but what we don’t need is to delay it.”

Giberson brought the motion to committee recently where it was recommended the idea be sent for an Official Plan review.

That, says the councillor, will not fly.

“It would be several years before any action sees the light of day. We need action now.”

Giberson said he can’t take credit for the idea, which is neither new or unusual.

“Many municipalities have been doing this for years and many others are starting to do the same, including both upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities. Oshawa needs to step up.”

“We know this works. We just need to get into the game.”

Oshawa Councillor Derek Giberson

The city has sold or transferred land to be used for affordable housing in the past, but it has been on a “piecemeal, one-off basis” and Giberson wants staff to develop a “unified, clear strategic direction” on how they should be used in the future.

Council approved an application to the federal Housing Accelerator Fund last September with numerous housing activation initiatives, including a proposed initiative to create a program for the redevelopment of surplus city-owned lands and acquisition of lands for housing projects.

The application, however, was unsuccessful.

Regional Councillor Brian Nicholson said the city the city has already supported plenty of affordable housing initiatives in the recent past and took umbrage in a social media post over any allegations Oshawa was not committed to securing affordable housing for its residents.

“Oshawa was one of the first municipalities to do this and continues to support affordable housing by transferring land to Durham Region to support more housing units in our city,” he said.

In south Oshawa alone Nicholson cited five examples of the city transferring land or working with the region to develop affordable housing:

• Land on Centre St. S. was transferred to Habitat for Humanity to support their now completed housing project;
• Land and buildings on Dean Avenue were transferred to Durham Region for renovation of a seniors’ building and land was also transferred on nearby Normandy Drive to Habit for Humanity for their 60-plus-unit townhouse complex;
• The region also received a transfer of land on Christine Crescent for the pending construction of 160 more affordable units;
• An unused road allowance at Malaga Road and Glen Street was transferred to Durham for the development of more than 400 new units;
• The city also worked in tandem with the Region of Durham to preserve the historic Ritson School and allow the adjacent lands on the property to be turned into 600-plus new units, with many set aside for affordable housing.

“These are real time solutions that provide much needed housing.”

Nicholson said identifying city-owned lands that could be used for affordable housing must involve careful consideration of impacts on surrounding uses such as parks and open space, or the proximity of these units to services needed to support the new units in the community.

“I will not support pushing residents in need into our industrial parks or eliminating community parks and open space or environmentally sensitive lands,” he said. “We know that it is not enough and that much more needs to be done, but the suggestion that nothing has been done or is being done is not correct.”

Giberson said developing a clear strategy for using city properties for affordable housing would eliminate any random sales and ensure the right properties are used.

“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel on this. It’s been successful in many other places,” he said. “We definitely don’t need to overcomplicate and delay it either, by sending it off for an Official Plan review.”

“I hope we don’t see a bunch of excuses to delay it.”