Learning from the past
Kings County council approvals aim to promote affordable, low-income housing development
Cameron Jess came to council like a voice from the past, a ghost from when there was intense activity directed at housing low-income people in Kings County.
He said lessons from the past could apply to the current situation Kings County council and the community faces in dealing with a housing shortage.
As the municipality embarks on several new efforts to encourage the development of affordable or lowincome housing, Jess said the situation today might be worse than it was in the 1980s.
“Sluffing off the problem in the context of an affordable housing program isn’t, in my opinion, the appropriate response,” Jess said.
LEARNING FROM THE PAST
Jess is the Wolfville Interchurch Housing Association's former executive director and later the Kings County Housing Society (KCHS).
Between 1981 and 1988, hundreds of housing units were successfully delivered to low-income families. More than 1,000 deficient housing units were upgraded to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) standards.
Jess said that when he started in his position, he was initially given a budget of $5,000 a year and $35,000 in program funding.
Over the next few years, they grew the organization to the point that the KCHS could spend more than $7 million on low-income housing initiatives during its peak year of activity.
There were more than 30 people employed by the organization. About 100 houses were being built a year and several hundred units were being repaired.
The housing came in various forms and projects extended beyond Kings County. One project of note was the establishment of the original
Chrysalis House women’s shelter.
Federal funding came from the CMHC, and former Nova Scotia attorney general Harry Howe helped the organization secure borrowing guarantees from the province. Jess said one trick to getting more federal funding was continually overspending his budget. Jess said a belief that every human being deserved decent housing is what motivated them. Infrastructure developed throughout Canada that “made it possible to dream and to plan to do just that.”
Targeting low-income earners, they instituted a training program to give recipients the skills to cope with their new homes. People had to complete the course before selecting their housing and moving in.
“We were trying in a sense to cheat the odds,” Jess said. “We were trying to make sure that our people survived in their new environments.”
He said any major effort to turn the current housing situation around has to consider preparing people. Jess explained that the KCHS would sometimes hire the people they were helping.
The thinking was that if they could give them good jobs, they could get their own housing.
Jess pointed out the KCHS had a “freewheeling board” that was “willing to support our efforts to get things done.” He said the organization became successful by taking advantage of every opportunity presented.
“Sometimes it offended public sensibilities that we were exposing things in the community that people didn’t want to look at,” Jess said.
He said officials have to
Kings County Mayor Peter Muttart says he believes more support for affordable and low-income housing development is a matter that “should be put to the front of the line” with regard to municipal priorities. target people who can’t afford a so-called affordable housing opportunity that costs them $1,500 a month.
Jess suggested setting up an organization like the KCHS with municipal reps and strong community and organizational representation. He said the board should be autonomous and not hamstrung by council.
The last time an effort was made was about a decade ago with the Housing First Association of Kings County. The organization folded in March 2014 after running into financial difficulties and the resignation of volunteer board members, several of which cited exhaustion as their reason for stepping down.
Kings County councillors requested a staff report on housing at the September committee of the whole session, but it was decided to wait until after hearing a presentation from Jess in November.
At a special council session on Jan. 18, eight recommendations regarding affordable housing were approved. These included general housing, higher density residential and central service recommendations.
Although the municipality doesn’t intend to provide physical housing, Mayor
Peter Muttart said they are trying to create an environment conducive and supportive of affordable housing projects. Muttart said they also have to look at what they define as “affordable."
Muttart pointed out the environment today is much different than in the 1980s. One key difference is that in 1995, there was a service exchange agreement that saw the province take over responsibility for housing from municipalities.
Council has instructed the chief administrative officer (CAO) to investigate all municipally owned properties to determine if there are some that could be deemed surplus and used for housing projects.
“We’re going to take our inventory and see,” Muttart said. “It’s possible that some of those lots would lend themselves to being available for developers to put affordable housing on.”
He said some municipalities don’t own a lot of real estate where such projects could be encouraged. In these cases, another option is to look at planning legislation to ensure that it’s conducive to people who want to develop affordable housing.
In this regard, council has instructed the CAO to
Other motions relating to affordable housing approved by Kings County council on Jan. 18 include:
• Instructing the CAO to develop processes that will promote awareness, especially among developers, of the funding and programs available for affordable housing projects and, for that purpose, begin tracking the number of developments that might meet the affordable criteria. • Requesting that the Valley Regional Enterprise Network (REN) not proceed with a housing study and to work with the CAOs of member municipalities and local housing groups to best determine how the Valley REN can support housing initiatives.
• Providing a $50,000 grant from the COVID19 Reserve to The Portal Youth Outreach Association to support the continued employment of a housing navigatorconsultant.
• The consideration of a forthcoming report on the Canada CommunityBuilding Fund relative to the commissioning of a village-municipal central servicing masterplan. • Authorize the transfer of $605,000 from the COVID-19 Reserve to Outside Engineering to commission pre-design reports as identified in a Jan. 13 staff report.
have municipal staff prepare amendments to planning documents to enable accessory dwellings within growth centres; broaden development agreement options within the Country Residential (A4) Zone; and zoning Clements Park as Residential Mixed Density (R3).
The CAO has also been instructed to forward a request from the municipality to have the Department of National Defence divest ownership of Clements Park holdings in Greenwood for the purpose of housing developments.
Muttart said staff has put a great deal of work into the reports and recommendations that led to council’s recent approval of the eight motions in support of affordable housing. He expects there will be several initiatives that result, and the municipality is open to considering partnerships.
“We’re looking at every avenue where we can assist in nurturing and promoting the affordable housing initiative that everybody wants to encourage,” the mayor said.