Richmond Hill council endorses affordable housing strategy after lengthy delay

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 29, 2021

After months of holdup, Richmond Hill council finally endorsed the city's Affordable Housing Strategy on Nov. 24, taking an important step toward providing more affordable choices for current and future residents in the city.

“To support the local economy, the city needs to be proactive in its mandates that adequate and affordable housing is available for all residents and workers at different income levels,” said Muhammad Kermalli, chair of Richmond Hill Board of Trade.

“The costs of inaction on housing affordability in general and affordable housing for those in the low to middle-income brackets have huge ramifications for local businesses and the economy, as companies and organizations cannot create new jobs if there are no places for their workers to live.”

The strategy outlines a variety of actions the city may undertake, in collaboration with the building and development sector and other levels of government, to address the demand for attainable housing in the private housing market, according to a city press release.

Some of the key actions include:

• Developing financial incentive programs to complement those of the regional, provincial and federal governments, specifically targeted toward the development of affordable housing options.

• Facilitating partnerships between not-for-profit and for-profit housing providers.

• Improving the approval process for affordable housing (e.g., reducing the approval time for development applications committed to providing affordable housing).

• Determining opportunities to contribute city-owned land toward affordable housing projects.

• Establishing a committee to oversee and monitor implementation of the strategy and advocate to other levels of government for support.

• Creating policies and tools to support the strategy, largely through the city's Official Plan and Comprehensive Zoning By-law.

This February, York Region council declared an affordable housing crisis, then passed a motion proposing that each municipality commit two acres of land every five years for affordable units to be built by non-profit developers.

The city will begin public consultation on the implementation of these actions through ongoing and related initiatives such as the Official Plan Update. To be notified of updates and to participate in future public engagement opportunities, residents can subscribe to “receive email updates” at RichmondHill.ca/AHS.