HOUSINGAGAIN-L Housing Again Bulletin No. 32

[Catherine Nasmith <cnasmith@sympatico.ca>]

HOUSING AGAIN - Bulletin No. 32
 May 1 2001

A twice monthly electronic bulletin published on what people are doing
to put housing back on the public agenda in Ontario, across Canada and
around the world. Our web site is http://www.housingagain.web.net. 
If you have any tips for the Bulletin please e-mail: gallop@interlog.com.

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1. Uncontaminating land
2. Housing the Mentally Ill in Thunder Bay
3. Barrie Strikes an Affordable Housing Task Force.
4. Toronto Catholic School Board Hangs on to New Levy.
5. BC Housing Wins International Communications Award.
6. Are you in Housing Again's Who's Who?

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1. Uncontaminating land

A cheaper solution to land contamination clean up that has been gaining
momentum in British Columbia is spreading to Ontario.

Traditionally, contaminated soil is dug up and taken to an appropriate
containment area, a process often so expensive that developers suspend
or cancel projects.  A new approach, coined as 'risk management' by
developers and engineers, involves containing and dealing with
contaminated soil at the site, much like garbage and other harmful
substances are contained and managed at a landfill site. If this
approach passes stringent environmental standards, it may be key for
many cities across Canada that have prime downtown land sitting vacant
because of the prohibitive clean-up cost of contaminated soil.

The most famous site where the risk management approach is implemented
is the re-development of Pacific Place, the downtown site of Expo '89 in
Vancouver. During this project, some soil was removed, barriers were put
in place to contain contaminants, and pumping systems were installed to
clean groundwater. Risk management is being considered for the Le Breton
Flats area in downtown Ottawa and the site of the Plastimet disaster
inbdowntown Hamilton.

Land contamination is one of the potential sticking points in a Toronto
group's proposal to build $30,000 homes for a community of people living
in tents on a former industrial site along the city's waterfront. The
possibility of lining the contaminated area with a commercial cloth
membrane containing a * inch thick layer of bentanite clay, is beign 
investigated.

Volunteer Barry Burnett, who works as a general superintendent for
Buttcon construction, started to research this product after one of his
workers saw it at a seminar. Burnett says the material is equivalent to
three feet of natural clay, costs about $7 per square metre and is
traditionally used to line sewage lagoons. From his research, Burnett is
hopeful about using this as part of a risk management strategy if the
city gives the go ahead for the group to develop the new community.

Paul Smolkin, a professional engineer and principle with Golder
Associates, a global earth engineering and environmental services firm,
stresses that it isn't so much a particular product, but rather a whole
new approach to contamination, one that has the potential to spur what
is commonly called 'Brown Fields development,' or the development of
abandoned or under-used industrial and commercial land.

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2. Housing the Mentally Ill in Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay's Alpha Court Non-Profit Housing Inc. will use $741,000 from
the Ontario Ministry of Health, to work with landlords in the city and
provide 67 apartments for people who have mental illnesses and are
homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless. Thunder Bay has a healthy 5.5
per cent rental vacancy rate so, according to Brian Thompson, executive
director of Alpha Court, it makes sense for the organization to set up
agreements with existing landlords in the city. The grant will provide
people with a rent subsidy permitting them to meet housing costs with
social assistance for three years, as well as giving them the supports
they need to establish a home and take part in the community.

This funding is part of a $67.6 million commitment from the Ontario
government for immediate and long-term supportive housing needs across
the province, as well as $4.8 million for community mental health
providers to expand their services. The bulk of the money comes from
surplus federal housing funds that came to Ontario as part of the
federal-provincial Social Housing Transfer Agreement, signed in 1999.

The money comes from the health ministry instead of the housing ministry
because it is geared to assisting people with special needs in finding
and maintaining existing housing, rather than increasing the supply of
affordable housing. In a handful of Ontario centres with high rental
vacancy rates, including Thunder Bay and Sudbury in the north, it is
possible to find vacant units. But in the tight rental markets through
most of the rest of the province, this initiative will simply mean that
one group of needy tenants will be competing with other groups of needy
tenants for scarce housing.

Before it cut all funding for new social housing in 1995, the Ontario
government used to fund the development of supportive housing as part of
its overall housing program.

For the past 20 years, as successive provincial governments have cut
funding for mental health institutions, community advocates have called
for increased funding for affordable housing and appropriate services in
the community. The province has launched another series of task forces
across the province on inrtegrating and co-ordinating mental health services.

****

3. Barrie Strikes an Affordable Housing Task Force.

Barrie, Ontario, the city that boasts the fastest growth of all cities
of its size in North America, is actively looking for ideas about how to
bend its zoning laws to accommodate affordable housing development.

Last January, new mayor Jim Perri struck an affordable housing task
force. "I am confident we can find ways to adjust and defer charges to
encourage private developers and builders to build new affordable rental
units or housing in Barrie," said Patricia Copeland, a Barrie city
councillor and the mayor's representative on the task force. Copeland
says that currently the city's rental housing supply is minimal and of
poor quality. There is a two-to-five year waiting list for subsidized
housing. Copeland said she is particularly worried about many of the
city's families who go through all of the proper channels to find
affordable housing but are languishing on the waiting list.

"Families are at risk of losing their children because after a certain
period of time, aid agencies have to take them away when parents can't
provide adequate housing," she said.  
Copeland is actively looking for input from other municipalities about
what Barrie can do to generate new affordable, marketable housing. She
can be reached at  pcopeland@city.barrie.on.ca. The task force is hoping
to have its recommendations together by the end of June.

****

4. Toronto Catholic School Board Hangs on to New Levy

On a close vote, the Toronto Catholic School Board defeated a motion to
exempt not-for-profit housing developments in the City of Toronto from
its new development charge of $1,236 per unit.

As a result of the April 24 decision, three projects ready to apply for
building permits are re-assessing their status because of the unexpected
new cost:

- A Frontiers Foundation plan to build 70 units of mixed housing for
families and singles at 419 Coxwell Ave.

- The Trellis Garden development at Lawrence Ave. and Allen Rd. of 26
units for single-parent families coming out of the hostel system.

- The Fred Victor Centre development at 1978 Lakeshore Blvd. of 42 units
for single adults coming out of the hostel system.

Peter Zimmerman, housing development officer with Toronto's Let's Build
project, said the City is considering raising the amount of funding
provided to three projects that are now threatened. This means that
fewer projects will receive funding under the program in 2001.

"We are all very disappointed,' said Zimmerman. "The [Catholic School
Board] is breaking this trend where all levels of government are
agreeing to alleviate this housing crisis by relaxing whatever rules
they can. Everyone else has really pitched in."

Discussion continues about re-opening the issue but Zimmerman said the
City has to operate on the assumption that the new levy is here to stay.

****

5. BC Housing Wins a International Communications Award.

BC Housing's Affordable Housing Week won the Golden Quill for Special
Events from the International Association of Business Communicators.
Affordable Housing week is a partnership initiative among members of the
public, private non-profit and co-op housing sectors to organize
regional activities aimed at showing people how affordable housing is
key to communities, how communities have helped people in need find
housing and to dispel myths about people who live in social housing. For
more information on this event visit the Affordable Housing Week Website
at http://www.bchousing.org/afford/ahw/ahw/.

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6. Are you in Housing Again's Who's Who?

Housing Again maintains a searchable contact list of people involved in
housing called Who’s Who. It is designed to help people find each other
and has been used by reporters looking for contacts, researchers, as
well as by people organizing conferences. It can be searched by name,
interest, location. To list yourself or edit your entry go to
http://www.housingagain.web.net/whoswho/index.cfm and click on Sign up
or Edit your entry. Your entry will be posted within 48 hours.

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