{"id":34683,"date":"2024-06-13T16:36:01","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T20:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=34683"},"modified":"2024-06-20T12:41:41","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T16:41:41","slug":"auroras-affordable-housing-action-plan-presented-to-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/auroras-affordable-housing-action-plan-presented-to-council\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora\u2019s Affordable Housing Action Plan presented to Council"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aurora\u2019s Affordable Housing Action Plan will soon be up for public review after a draft of the plan was presented to Council last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Affordable Housing Action Plan, if ultimately passed, will serve as a \u201cblueprint\u201d to foster affordable housing options within the community through 2051 \u2013 a time that\u2019s expected to see significant population growth within Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft plan, as presented at last week\u2019s Committee of the Whole meeting, received mixed reviews from local lawmakers with some questioning whether the goals set out in the plan will achieve objectives, as well as just what constitutes \u201caffordable\u201d in a community like Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan is guided by six key objectives: increase housing supply, promote housing affordability and stability, ensure complete community growth, streamline approvals, enhance partnerships, and \u201ccontinually monitor, assess and educate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the recommendations to increase housing supply is to permit four units per residential lot to \u201cincrease \u2018missing middle\u2019 and rental opportunities\u201d; increase density \u201cincrementally\u201d within the downtown Aurora Promenade area and the Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) around the GO Station; undertake a study to look at opportunities to convert land designated for commercial and employment uses; looking at housing opportunities at \u201ckey sites,\u201d with 50-100 Bloomington Road West held up as just one example; and update zoning provisions to support housing creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the objective of Promote Housing Affordability and Sustainability, the Town will, should the Plan be implemented, develop an Affordable Housing Reserve Fund, funded through Community Benefit Charges or developers\u2019 contributions, to allow the Town to \u201cassist with affordable housing projects\u201d such as non-profit and co-op models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional goals here include requiring affordable housing assessments for all new residential developments; implementing inclusionary zoning for the MTSA; prioritizing government-owned land for housing use; and exploring the \u201cbenefits and feasibility\u201d of modular and prefab construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ensure \u201cComplete Community Growth,\u201d the draft plan suggests eliminating minimum parking requirements within the MTSA to lower housing costs; creating an Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan, which would arm a municipality with tools to direct funds to \u201cincentivize\u201d the creation of affordable housing through grants, loans and tax breaks. Streetscape improvements in the Aurora Promenade Area to \u201creduce the overall cost of development\u201d and \u201cAssist with housing affordability for the area\u201d while adding to its vibrancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Streamlining the approval of developments is a key pillar in the plan. Recommendations here include a Community Planning Permit System that would allow multiple application processes to be consolidated into a single review; continuing to enhance the Town\u2019s online planning application system; prioritizing the approval of affordable housing developments; and waiving application fees for \u201ccritical housing opportunities,\u201d including emergency, transitional and supportive housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Success of the plan will also hinge on enhancing partnerships with housing stakeholders, including assisting York Region and Housing York in identifying appropriate sites for housing. Partnerships could entail working with school boards to identify opportunities for housing; connecting developers with \u201cAffordable and Rental Housing Providers at the pre-consultation stage;\u201d advocating with upper levels of government for housing funding and support; and supporting community housing providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional objectives range from developing an Aurora-wide assessment of housing needs and gaps, advocacy and education work to \u201cremove the stigma\u201d associated with certain housing types, and a commitment to regularly update the plan in question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Draft Plan goes one step further to address what\u2019s always been a thorny issue in discussions around affordable housing: just what constitutes \u201caffordable\u201d in this day and age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generally, \u201caffordable\u201d in the housing context is pegged at \u201cno less than 30 per cent of an individual or family\u2019s gross income,\u201d per the Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft Plan notes that the average Aurora rental is $1,371 for a one-bedroom, $1,794 for a two-bedroom, and $2,065 for a three-bedroom dwelling, based on 2021 Census data. The average market value for a home is $1,450,000, notes the report, through data provided by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, while the average gross total income for families locally is $180,200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Affordability Price Threshold is a measurement to determine the maximum price that households can afford to pay for private market dwellings, which includes the cost of a mortgage, mortgage insurance, and property taxes relative to 30 per cent of gross overall income,\u201d the draft notes. \u201cThe [Threshold] based on these factors for Aurora is $682,000 for the average gross total income for families, but then $509,000 based on the median gross income for families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These numbers drew questions around the Council table, with Ward 4 Councillor Michael Thompson suggesting Aurora would be \u201chard-pressed to find any success in that particular area\u201d if those prices are the target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some lawmakers suggested that the targets and objectives outlined in the plan were not \u201caggressive\u201d enough looking ahead to 2051.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really hope we can get some true actionable items out of this,\u201d said Ward 1 Councillor Ron Weese. \u201cWe\u2019re supposed to be asking for 25 per cent of all our developments that are supposed to be affordable and we\u2019ve had that in our Official Plan for quite some time, but it just hasn\u2019t worked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Weese also said some of the goals were \u201cpretty non-specific\u201d and sought assurances that Aurora\u2019s so-called Stable Neighbourhoods were protected with rules that protect their character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am still not convinced that in specific areas, such as the Berczy Street area, that minimum parking is going to be useful and beneficial, even though it is in the MTSA,\u201d he added. \u201cIt may create problems in the adjacent residential areas because there is no parking and I hope we\u2019re going to be looking at a parking strategy and a traffic strategy that goes along with this because it is not just about housing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developments within the MTSA were also on the radar of Ward 3 Councillor Wendy Gaertner. While she said it makes \u201cperfect sense\u201d for developers to look at areas like this, it will take \u201cpersuasion\u201d to make affordable units happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is not going to be as much profit in affordable housing and possibly not in attainable development,\u201d she said, citing the Affordability Threshold. \u201cI don\u2019t see developers being that excited about doing this kind of housing, but I really hope we can [incentivize them] because it is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perception, however, was key for Councillor Weese who said \u201cstigmatization\u201d was \u201cone of the biggest problems\u201d in achieving more affordable units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think one of the biggest problems we have is considered to be a stigmatization of people who may not have the affordability and the ability to do things,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it is really an important part that we do to relieve the stigma of all of that. We have seen it before here and it raises its ugly head, and I think it is important that we have a community that is bound together with a cause to improve the quality of life for all of our residents, including those people who aren\u2019t at the upper echelons of income.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the perspective of Mayor Tom Mrakas, achieving these goals will require creativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am looking forward to seeing what comes back to us after going out to the public.\u201d he said. \u201cPersonally, I think that we\u2019ve got to start getting really creative when it comes to this stuff. I think as we\u2019re doing at the Region now, we need to start doing it here: looking at properties that possibly we own that we can repurpose or look at land-lease deals where you eliminate the land cost for the development, which would significantly reduce those financial burdens and be able to create true affordability in rentals in our community. I think those are some of the things we need to look at.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aurora\u2019s Affordable Housing Action Plan will soon be up for public review after a draft of the plan was presented to Council last week. The Affordable Housing Action Plan, if ultimately passed, will serve as a \u201cblueprint\u201d to foster affordable housing options within the community through 2051 \u2013 a time that\u2019s expected to see significant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-91p","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-14 12:51:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34683\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}