More information regarding attainable housing in Stratford is on the horizon.
CEO of investStratford Joani Gerber spoke with StratfordToday on a recently held public meeting on the subject and the project their organization is conducting.
Held at the Stratford Rotary Complex, presentation boards were displayed across the hall, with post-it notes and pens nearby so that attendees could give their input on the information being presented – and provide their own suggestions on what the Festival City can do.
Overall, Gerber said they got plenty of engagement.
“There was a lot of opportunity for us to highlight and explain the various programs and incentives that are being considered,” she said. “There was also an opportunity to discuss some of the needs analysis … where are the gaps in the market that we need to really work on?”
The open house was a part of phase 2 of the Stratford Attainable Housing Project, which is developing an attainable market housing Community Incentives Toolkit (CIT) and a housing pilot project, which will introduce two pilot developments on city-owned vacant land. These pilot developments will go towards the gap in attainable housing.
At the public meeting, investStratford inquired on how the city should define attainable housing, which is easier said than done. ‘Attainable’ is defined differently by many different organizations throughout the province.
Gerber said that so far they have been cautious on providing a definition due to overlap in terms and what will be required by the province.
She noted that because of Bill 23, now known as the More Homes Built Faster Act, much of what was being discussed around ‘attainable’ was in limbo. Aside from opening up parts of the Greenbelt for development, the act also provided a definition for ‘attainable residential units’ by the province.
Gerber noted that should city council move forward with some of the recommendations from their project, the city’s definition will likely be similar.
Attendees were invited to give their comments on a few ideas besides defining attainable. When asked where Stratford should look into building attainable housing, some suggested the old fairgrounds, Downie Street lots, and the Avon Crest site.
There were notable gaps in the presentation. The project noted that there is an unknown amount of vacant private land in the city, due to there being no instrument to track that. Additionally, the information on housing prices only went to 2016 – which listed the average price as just over $300,000.
The project is supported by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs and ends on March 31. The findings of their research will be presented to Stratford city council before then, though no date is set.
Until then, Gerber assured that more information will be coming from investStratford and Engage Stratford regarding attainable housing.
