A home can make a dream come true, even if it isn鈥檛 a 鈥渄ream home.鈥� The new housing developments being planned for Sidney are a hopeful sign, not just because they will bring more homes on the market but because they meet the needs of many different people.
Young people 鈥� and their parents 鈥� who have lamented the difficulty of finding a home that is affordable in Greater Victoria can see some hope on the horizon as developers and municipalities recognize that not everyone in the capital region is a retired investment banker.
Sidney has four development proposals under scrutiny that will provide welcome additions in an area that desperately needs homes for working families.
On the former site of North Saanich Middle School at Resthaven Drive and McDonald Park Road, Resthaven Lands Limited envisions 37 lots on 1.8 hectares. They would include carriage houses and homes with secondary suites. On Seaport Place on the waterfront, a commercial residential project would provide 30 units, most of them smaller and more affordable.
A four-storey development on First Street would offer 15 multi-family units and include four micro-units of 363 square feet. Seven townhouse units on Henry Avenue would be aimed at people who have trouble getting around. The units would allow the installation of chair lifts or elevators.
Although the four projects are very different, Sidney councillors must be pinching themselves when they consider how well the four complement each other. They include everything from single family homes to micro-condos to units for people with mobility issues. All could appeal to different ages and tastes.
Sidney has the justified reputation of being a haven for seniors, with 36.9 per cent of its population over age 65 in 2011, compared to the national average of 14.8 per cent. But 52.7 per cent of its people are of working age.
Reflecting that mix, the town has a higher percentage of low-rise apartment units than the provincial average and a lower percentage of single detached houses.
While the needs of seniors are still a concern in a town where the median age rose almost two years between 2006 and 2011, people at the younger end of the spectrum need a place to live, particularly with the amount of industry at the northern end of the Saanich Peninsula.
The airport and sa国际传媒 Ferries are large employers, and Viking Air, the Sobeys distribution centre, Slegg Lumber and Scott Plastics have many employees who would like to live close to where they work. Saanich Coun. Paul Gerrard has said that many of them live in the West Shore and commute, adding to traffic congestion through several municipalities.
With little affordable housing and with resistance to development in neighbouring North Saanich, Sidney is the obvious place for those people to live.
Of course, more residential development will increase pressure on municipal services. The residents of Sidney and North Saanich have made it clear they want to retain the atmosphere of the community, something Sidney has so far been able to do successfully.
Adding more housing options would benefit the area. Adding big-box stores would undo years of careful work.
The pressure to make housing more affordable is being felt all over the capital region. Municipalities have begun to regularize the secondary suites that many homeowners have used for decades to defray mortgage costs. Even in Oak Bay, 78 per cent of residents surveyed for the new official community plan were in favour of regulating secondary suites; 64 per cent favoured putting duplexes in single-family neighbourhoods.
Providing more housing options that work for people of all ages and incomes will make our communities stronger.
