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THE HERALD Wednesday November Page 15 Housing Bureaucratic delays plague affordable housing By ELIZABETH CALVIN he Herald There are many creative solu tions to the problem of finding af fordable housing in Hal ton but bureaucratic delays at all levels of government slow down pro jects so much thousands arc left waiting according to the majori ty of those in the audience who gathered to hear a panel discus sion on the issue last Thursday at the Halton Cultural Centre Panel guests gave presenta tions on several topics and au dience members were given the chance to ask questions of the speakers One developer wanted to know why the government doesnt have a fast track on rezoning citing the fact that it took him two years to obtain a land severance and another two years to obtain a sewer allocation Councillor Rob sug gested that developers approach their local councils for help with the mountain of red tape they must go through before beginning a housing project Emotions ran high as another member of the audience charged that builders and developers in Halton Hills know most town employees by their first name calling Coun remarks insulting Panel guest Jim Douglas representing Miltons Rotary Club which was instrumental in getting a private nonprofit hous ing complex built in their town suggested to builders the best way to get through the govern ment and legal maze is to hire a development consultant Elaine Eastman Chairperson of the Access to Perma nent Housing Committee who organized the panel discussion pointed out that most towns are made up of per cent owned and per cent rented accommoda tion In Halton Hills that ratio is per cent to per cent however Cobble Hill Coop in Acton After he and his wife got fed up with substandard housing for high standard rents they decided that cooperative living would be a good idea and started the Coop It was encouraging frustrating rewarding and a long process he said and he urged the audience to consider the points he raised MaryJane McGinn a resident of Glen Mills Coop in Georgetown and a member of the Boards of two other coop pro jects explained what co operative living is like It is not the housing of choice for everyone she admitted Walter The idea of a coop is that a group of people form a corpora tion to provide services to themselves such as daycare Residents become voting members who elect a Board of Directors to conduct the dayto day affairs of the complex The unique features are that there are no landlords money taken in rent is enough for the corporation to break even and there is a real sense of com Ms McGinn of Homestarts consulting groups was also in volved with the McLaughlan and Steeles Coop project in Bramp ton and remembered the many hours people involved with the project spent in OMB hearings One year of delays she said later cost million With land costs and interest rates going up daily the McLaughlin and Steeles project went from a plan ned cost of million to an ac tual cost of million The third speaker Jim Douglas explained the trials and tribulations involved in building a private nonprofit project After assessing housing needs in Milton a plan was developed to build a mixed townhouse and apartment complex with two three and four bedroom units The overall concept is great the thought at the beginning there is the govern ment aspect with checks and balances local people members of the community and profes sionals from the private sector to finance the plan It wasnt long however before they ran into problems with the Ministry of Housing Explained Mr Douglas they never proper ly explained how it was supposed to go Planners were not very good at catching the Ministrys hints Milton Council was very sup portive said Mr Douglas and as for adverse community reaction Volunteer needed A volunteer who speaks Viet namese fluently is needed to work with a family that has recently moved to Halton Region The family needs help in finding out about community resources and learning the skills they need to cope with life in Canada If you speak Vietnamese and could spend some time with this family please call Corrie Galloway at the Childrens Aid Society GIC RATE 1205 Rata Sublact To Change Without Notice MONEY CONCEPTS FOR ASSISTANCE WITH ALL TYPES OF MORTGAGE FINANCING PRIME RESIDENTIAL CONVENTIONAL to Years 12875 1325 Meet Ti nag Residential Commercial DAVE 8734991 Postal boxes Private cubicles v here you can pick up your mail in person your convenience Because our Postal boxes are open for business are ATYPEBOX SO coo 3 months alaf S i k 6 months Oaf 12 months Businesses Inquire About Our Volume Discounts DELREX SMOKE SHOP georgetown market place fax service available planners decided to be complete ly open about everything with very positive effects In retrospect Mr Douglas ad mitted that the biggest problems they encountered were with bureaucracies Logical things like the fitting of he handicapped unit couldnt make it through the system he said It was always a problem of which budget ex penses would come out of and who would come to impsect and when As for an old house that was on the property it took so long to get approval to take it down that planners just took it down themselves Children were play ing in the house which was ex tremely dangerous Amy Smith also from Milton gave a short speech about a group home on her street and the attitudes that preceded its open ing A key scratch on a car and a silly putty in a car door lock made her realize that nothing had changed on the street those two incidents happened before the group home opened Nothing earth shattering has happened since David Barkely who detailed municipal nonprofit housing was the last speaker on the panel He informed the audience that the regional planning department found a need for 3000 units in This figure was the result of studying lists provided by local housing authorities After finding a location prov ing there Is a need targeting a group and surveying the area for special needs the planning department received planning approvals and is currently developing units including a complex in Burlington that has two disabled units Several angry questions con cerning government delays were fielded by Mr Barkely One member of the audience encouraged everyone in atten dance to participate in the official plan review that takes place this year to ensure that more af fordable housing is built in Halton Committee Chairperson Eastman also encouraged those who are looking for affordable housing to be sure and phone the local housing authority and get their names on waiting lists The governments use those lists to determine need in any given area she explained The Canadian Red Cross Society GEORGETOWN DISTRICT BRANCH La de la CroixRouge Box loo Georgetown Oni DONT FORGET THE RED CROSS BLOOD CLINIC AT Holy Cross Church Auditorium MONDAY NOVEMBER 12 Open from 130 to 830 pm DONORS ages 17 to are URGENTLY NEEDED to GIVE BLOOD TRANSPORTATION and BABYSITTING at the clinic available to donors If a ride is needed phone Mrs Alice Greenaway 8774466 or Mrs Nancy Schultheiss 8777330 On clinic day phone 8777522 THIS CLINIC IS SPONSORED BY THE LIONS CLUB