Council in Whistler endorses process to review staff housing on private land
Whistler council has taken another step toward creating 500 new beds for resort staff.
On Tuesday, council officially endorsed a new process that will be used to review proposals for resident housing built on underdeveloped private land. The endorsement helps to move forward the sixth recommendation of the Mayor’s Task Force, which is to allow private rental developments for local residents and resort staff.
“The Whistler community is diverse and we recognize that a broad range of accommodation types are needed to house our workforce,” said Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden. “Privately funded construction of rent-restricted rental properties is part of the multi-pronged approach recommended by the task force to actively address resident housing challenges in Whistler.”
Council expects a variety of proposals, including dormstyle housing built by employers strictly to accommodate seasonal staff, to multi-family homes.
Each proposal put forth will be reviewed by municipal staff and allowed one opportunity to be revised before being put forth to public consultation. Following public-information meetings, each proposal will undergo a first and second reading by council.
The process is a part of Whistler council and staff ’s commitment to creating 1,000 new resident beds by 2023 for the resort town. The goal of the housing task force is to maintain Whistler’s target of housing 75 per cent of its workforce locally.