By Ian Thompson
CURRENT STATUS
In May 2010, ISLA received the transfer of 18.5 acres of land now formally identified as 5040 Central Road – a gift from the Weiss family. At the same time, a 1.5 acre portion of land (also part of the Weiss gift) abutting Crown Land was deeded as a park while a strip of land along Beulah Creek, where development is not permitted, will become an ecological reserve.
Studies by ISLA have shown that because of the configuration of the land, and the need to meet affordability criteria, housing development on the Weiss land will necessarily take the form of two or three clusters of housing units. Our vision is for there to be one, two and three bedroom homes. Exact numbers and configurations have yet to be established; however, ISLA is working from the assumption that, based on the acreage, availability of potable water and septic capacity there is the potential for 16 to 20 conventional, three bedroom dwellings on the land.
ISLA is now poised to begin the process of creating physical housing.
Context and Vision
ISLA's objective is to create affordable housing options on Hornby Island, where increasing numbers of working community members are leaving because of the lack of year-round, affordable, stable housing.
Community demographics on Hornby are changing with an aging population and the rising cost of real estate. Housing needs are changing as a result, and are being addressed in a number of ways. The Elder Housing society has done a superb job of meeting the housing requirements of elders in the community. The recently-created Hornby Island Outer Island Housing Society intends to create “supportive housing” on the island with government assistance. ISLA is focusing on the housing needs of low and moderate-income households, thus helping to secure the future of our community, maintain its diversity and its younger workforce.
As a community land trust, ISLA ‘s aim is to make housing more affordable and accessible by separating the cost of land from the cost of the home. By securing land and removing it from the speculative market, ISLA can offer opportunity to people of modest financial means who need housing, be they single, couples, or young families with children.
MAKING THIS HAPPEN
To be able to offer affordable housing, ISLA will own the land in perpetuity and lease it to the owners of houses built on the land. Servicing costs will be paid for by the leasee and homes paid for and owned outright or owned within a mortgage. There will be minimal lease payments, while monthly fees for taxes, mortgage, maintenance and administration will be nominal and affordable. In this way the ‘cost’ of land will be taken out of the price of a home.
ISLA proposes to be the developer that, at a minimum, creates the infrastructure (road access, potable water, electrical power and waste water treatment) that will enable us to offer ‘serviced building sites’ ready for home construction. We envisage a two-stage process as follows:
Stage 1 – ISLA develops the Weiss Land by putting in the infrastructure for ‘serviced land’ that will allow home construction.
Stage 2 – Construction of homes. At this point various options emerge:
i) ISLA builds houses and sells them to eligible ‘owners’
ii) ISLA leases the land to housing cooperatives or housing societies that build homes for their members;
iii) ISLA or a new housing society builds homes for rent to eligible families (up to one third of the homes could be built exclusively for rental purposes, provided funding is available).
ISLA proposes to recover the costs of general infrastructure and site servicing from the sale of homes/leases thus making the development self financing and ensuring that residents, while enjoying affordable housing, participate fully in the cost of development.
NEXT STEPS
Over the next months ISLA will complete various surveys for environmental and construction purposes, apply for rezoning to allow the density of housing that would ensure affordability, obtain necessary permits for development, and in consultation with the community develop plans, policies and protocols for home construction, lease agreements and ongoing management of the land. In addition, ISLA will have to enter into a Housing Agreement with the Islands Trust. This fall we will be hosting a workshop to get further community input on how the development should be configured. ISLA will also improve the present trail onto the land to allow easier access for the surveys that are a necessary precursor to development.
We are confident that grants available from various sources plus fundraising in the community will provide us with the financial resources to complete these preliminary tasks. Once rezoning, permitting and planning are in place, ISLA would like to proceed directly to physical work on the land, which would be managed by a suitably qualified Project Manager or General Contractor.
Development of the land – road and bridge building, putting in electrical power, potable water and waste water systems and land drainage where appropriate is, however, a much larger financial commitment estimated at $500,000 to $600,000, that will require its own funding.
AN OPEN INVITATION
With the reality of housing now in sight, we are keen to have people interested in living at 5040 Central Road make contact with us as soon as possible. Both individuals and groups are invited to register with ISLA and be part of bringing the vision of affordable housing on Hornby to reality. ISLA would particularly welcome the involvement of people who have already linked up and are willing to form a co-operative or co-housing group for part or all of the land as this could open the door to alternative forms of financing.
To register your interest, or to find answers to questions regarding ISLA, please contact any member of the Board (named below) or our Administrator, Janet LeBlancq at 250-335-2844
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Michael McNamara (Chair) Michael Berman (Vice-Chair) Kevin McMahon (Treasurer) Jenny Brown (Secretary) Cindy Anderson
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Wayne Roberts Sharon Rogalsky Ian Thomson Masoud Zadeh
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