With housing continuing to be a hot topic throughout the Lower Mainland, Richmond residents can now weigh in on the city’s draft affordable housing strategy.
On Friday, the city launched an online survey for the public to provide feedback on the 2017-2027 housing strategy, its implementation plan and future actions.
“What we’re really seeking is to see if our strategic direction is doing what the intent is,” Joyce Rautenberg, affordable housing coordinator for the city told Richmond News. “We really want to know if we have the priorities correct. Are we missing anything and what other actions could the city be taking?”
The initial phases of developing the housing strategy took place between 2016 and 2017. The draft policy seeks to address five strategic directions including encouraging a diverse mix of housing types, maximizing the use of city resources, building capacity with non-profit housing, facilitating partnership opportunities and increasing advocacy.
“Providing the right mix of housing for a diverse population remains a top priority for Richmond city council,” said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie in a press release. “This strategy will help guide the city’s actions for the next 10 years as we continue to address housing affordability concerns.”
At Monday’s city council meeting, where the draft was moved to public consultation, the issue of secondary rental suites was raised by Vincent Chiu, a member of the Richmond Poverty Response Committee. He suggested to council that legal secondary suites be considered when approving rezoning and rebuilding applications, pointing out that densification often eliminates multiple secondary suites.
“We in the PRC do not see that these types of affordable rentals are being accounted for in the numbers used for updating the affordable housing strategy,” Chiu said. “This rental housing is affordable for ordinary working people.”
Rautenberg said the city’s planning department will work on addressing these concerns.
“Creating more family friendly housing is definitely a priority,” she said.
In addition to the online survey, the city will host two, drop-in open houses on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31 to seek added public feedback.
