The year 2023 in The Blue Mountains brought a lot of talk about affordable housing, but not much concrete action.
The lack of affordable and attainable housing continues to be a crisis that is of major concern to both local leaders and residents.
The crisis is not limited to the local area, with the Ford government at Queen’s Park taking up the cause. The government’s most recent action on the housing front is to offer HST rebates to those who are building affordable/attainable units.
In addition, at the heart of the Greenbelt scandal was the government’s desire to see more housing built quickly.
There is no doubt, there will continue to be pressure on local governments across the province to get shovels in the ground on more and more housing.
In the local area, rarely does a meeting of The Blue Mountains council pass without mention of the affordable housing situation in the local region. It is often discussed at meetings of Grey County council as well and neighbouring municipalities are also feeling the crunch created by a dearth of affordable options.
For The Blue Mountains, the collapse of the Gateway affordable/attainable housing project in Thornbury was the most significant event of 2023 on the file. The Blue Mountains Attainable Housing Corporation was not able to attract a builder for the project and hopes that shovels could be in the ground in 2023 were dashed.
By the end of the year, the town itself had taken control of the housing corporation in an effort to redefine its role and responsibilities on the file. Town staff will be delivering a report about how to move forward early in 2024.
Depending on what council decides, the housing corporation may continue to have an important role to play on the affordable/attainable housing front in the future.
This past year also saw multiple potential solutions emerging that could help on the housing front.
Earlier in the year, Blue Mountain Resort announced its desire to build a large-scale employee housing development. The resort, which already manages hundreds of rooms for employees, knows it needs more and is working towards a significant development near the village.
Getting the project constructed will be a long road and the project has already stirred up plenty of concern from local neighbours.
The project will be one to watch as 2024 dawns.
The Blue Mountains council also heard from a developer this past year interested in constructing purpose-built rental housing in the community. Grey Highlands has received a similar application for apartment-style rental housing in Markdale.
This will be a major story to watch in 2024. Will more projects come forward? Is this a trend local communities can expect to continue? Only time will tell.
