12 low-income families to get homes

Twelve low-income families in Lake Country will get new places to live when Habitat for Humanity finishes its next residential project.

Town council was expected last night to grant the necessary approval for the development on a 0.2-hectare site at 10618 Powley Ct. in central Winfield.

“Everyone deserves a decent place to live,” Habitat for Humanity chair Stacey Fenwick writes in a report to the town requesting a minor building setback variance be approved for the townhome project.

If the variance was not granted, the nonprofit association would be able to build only eight homes on the site. That would result in a costly redesign, Fenwick says.

BC Housing has pledged $450,000 toward the Lake Country project, Fenwick says, and that funding could be at risk if the anticipated construction start is delayed.

“We are very excited about building in Lake Country and know we can make a difference for your community,” Fenwick says.

Council first considered the variance request in October but deferred a decision, instructing staff to continue talking with Habitat for Humanity officials. Some revisions to the buildings’ design have been made to better protect neighbours’ privacy, but the need for a variance remained.

Town staff recommended council grant the variance.

“The variance being requested will keep the cost of site development down, making the units more affordable, and it increases the unit count, thereby making more units available for affordable home ownership,” town planners wrote in a report to council.

Since October, Fenwick and other Habitat representatives have met with some of the people who objected to the variance being granted. The views of some people, but not all, were changed.

“It seemed they would prefer the lot stays empty as it has been used for extra parking and to store boats and RVs,” Fenwick writes in her letter to the town.

Low-income people chosen to live in a Habitat for Humanity home are expected to help in its construction. In the past 25 years, the organization has built 33 homes in the Okanagan, most in the Central Okanagan.