Georgina council to consider tiny-home encampment proposal, free shower access for people experiencing homelessness

Motion also proposes construction of social housing units, warming and cooling centres

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 26, 2023
Laura Broadley

Free showers at town facilities for people experiencing homelessness, construction of social housing units and a tiny-home encampment could be on the way to Georgina if a motion brought forward at a council meeting on Sept. 20 is passed.

The motion, brought forward by Coun. Dale Genge, notes York Region council’s acknowledgment of a housing affordability crisis, recognizes that York Region has the lowest proportion of rental housing in the Greater Toronto Area, that 15,000 households are on the waiting list for subsidized housing with wait times typically between seven to 10 years and the lack of emergency or transitional housing units for people over the age of 26 in Georgina.

The motion proposes several actions the town could take to lessen the impact of the housing crisis, including establishing warming centres in the winter and cooling centres in the summer in Sutton, Keswick and Pefferlaw; developing a system that would allow people experiencing homelessness to shower at the Sutton Pool, Sutton Arena, Ice Palace and the MURC for free; modifying necessary bylaws to allow otherwise homeless people to live in leisure vehicles that could be parked in the yard of a single family residential property; constructing social housing units on the old Reed Farm property; and establishing a tiny-home encampment at the northeast corner of the Link property.

The motion will be a topic of discussion at council’s Sept. 27 meeting.