River Town Times - March 3, 2021

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Amherstburg to draft policy to deal with the affordable housing crisis By Ron Giofu Amherstburg town council has asked administration for policies pertaining to the concept of bringing more affordable housing to town. Councillor Patricia Simone made the motion to direct administration “to draft a strategic policy, as a supplement to the Official Plan and Community Improvement Plan, to encourage and facilitate development and provision of affordable housing in the Town of Amherstburg and to bring policy to council for their consideration and implementation.” Simone said there is an affordable housing crisis locally, provincially and federally and it was an issue she raised to provincial government representatives at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference as far back as 2019. “Amherstburg, like many communities, is now facing a crisis with the lack of affordable housing for its residents. We need all levels of government working together to make sure the most vulnerable of our residents are taken care of,” said Simone. Messages that Simone said she continues to hear include seniors wanting to know what happens if they have to sell their homes, single parents fearing homelessness and wanting to know where they can go with their children and from volunteers wanting to know

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Amherstburg town council is trying to take action on the affordable housing crisis by drafting a policy that would help to start addressing the issue. According to a report from CAO John Miceli: “The most recent purpose built affordable housing rental property was built at 182 Pickering, a five-storey 32-unit building that will receive a grant in the amount of $169,054 over a 20-year period. The other two included development of a total of 36 units at440 Simcoe and 448 Simcoe.” The building at 182 Pickering Dr. is pictured. RTT Photo by Ron Giofu

what Amherstburg is doing to help people struggling to find shelters and end up sleeping in their cars. “These are stories we should not be hearing in our community but they happen more often than we think,” she said. Simone said the number of people that the Central Housing Registry reports who need housing they can afford “is just astronomical.” “One individual looking for affordable housing is too many,” she added. Deputy Mayor Leo Meloche said council has to ask themselves “are they willing to put skin in the game”

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in order to address the crisis. “At the end of the day, over the last two years, all you are seeing government reports saying ‘we’ll do this’ and ‘we’ll do that’,” said Meloche. “We’re not seeing action. When I say action, there’s little action happening but I’m talking about real action that’s going to increase stock.” Meloche said it’s more than just giving people a subsidy so they can live in a house, it is actually building a stock of housing at a “reasonable rate” so that it is affordable. Continued on Page 2

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