Correcting misinformation about the SRD Housing Service

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -Former Regional Director Jim Abram may have been confusing the proposed SRD Housing Service with a Federal grant program when he criticized it during an interview with CKTZ News. 

Abram claimed that building permits are required under the new housing initiative, and the islands are ‘going to get nothing, most likely,  other than, you know, a little  less money in your pocketbook because it's going to go into your taxes.’ 

He also spoke against the ‘affordable housing bandwagon’: ‘There's only so many people that you can accommodate with your existing infrastructure.’

Mark Vonesch, Regional Director for Cortes Isand, responded, “The points that he's making that have alarmed a lot of people, in my opinion very unnecessarily, and are not based on the facts. The housing service is about developing a  way for us to requisition a small amount of tax from people. The average property on Cortes is going to pay $31.80 maximum per year.  For 2024, right now it's at zero. We have nothing planned.  It's going to be used for us to collectively pool our money to make housing happen.”

So let's look at some of Abram's facts.  

CC: Is there any requirement for building permits under the proposed SRD housing service?

Mark Vonesch: “The short answer is no, the Regional District Housing Service has nothing in it that says we have to have building permits.”

“What Jim's referring to as far as building permits, is the Housing Accelerator Fund. So this is one grant  that the Regional District has applied for. Part of the requirement of the grant is having a way to measure new housing builds and the internal measurement for that is traditionally housing permits.” 

Regional Director Robin McWhinney of Area C mentioned the confusion between the Accelerator fund and proposed SRD housing service, in her December 12th Directors Newsletter. Even if the SRD application is approved. Cortes island, Area C and Area A will not be able to obtain Accelerator funding  because we do not use building permits.”

(This is a grant and unrelated to the SRD housing service, which is seeking to raise startup capital through our property taxes.)  

CC: So why don't we use building permits?

Mark Vonesch: “My sense is Cortes does not want a building permit. We have some of the best builders around on our island, and they are building to the code, whether we have building permits or not.” 

Robyn Mawhinney: “I haven't heard from any residents on Quadra Island who are in favour of adding another level of local government oversight and fees that  would be associated with building service and building permits and building inspections. Creating a new bylaw or service is a lot of work for staff and for me and for the community to attend community meetings and weigh in on things like that. It's not something that I'm pursuing unless I hear a reason why we should be, and I haven't heard one yet.” 

Abram also claims that Cortes and Quadra  islands have reached their capacity in terms of population.

Mark Vonesch: “That’s a fine statement to say. Somebody else could say we haven't reached our capacity, but what data are you actually looking at to make that statement?” 

“One of the things that I'm moving forward on, together with the Cortes Housing Society, is looking quite seriously at 'what is our capacity?' First of all, starting with the base, what is the health of our aquifer? What is the health of our watershed?  Where can we have more development that's going to be sustainable in the long term? And how can we do development in a way that is ecologically sensitive, that recognizes our imprint on the land but also produces housing.”