A massive affordable housing development looks headed for paydirt in Ucluelet.
ERIF Sustainable Solutions is hoping to build a new neighbourhood on a roughly 25-acre Minato Road site that would include 221 residential units, 29 vacation rentals and a 1,200m2 commercial building.
The breakdown of those units is projected to be 75 attainable homeownership, 53 affordable rentals through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 83 market sales and rentals and 29 short term vacation rentals.
ERIF’s team had first presented to council in June of this year and then hosted an open house on Sept 11 to gauge public interest and potential opposition to the idea.
During their Sept. 24 regular meeting, council reviewed a report from the district’s Director of Community Planning Bruce Greig that suggested district staff has met with ERIF several times and been “pleased with the open communication,” adding that “discussions to date have been fruitful.”
“The proposed building form is 2-storey modular clusters of 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments that would employ an innovative construction system,” the report reads, adding the development would include 398 surface parking spaces.
Greig also presented to council and noted ERIF is still working on its official application and is hoping to iron out any potential concerns about their proposal to ensure a successful navigation through the upcoming obstacle course of municipal approvals.
“Essentially, there’s an application that is taking shape…They’re looking really seriously at bringing some really interesting housing potentially to Ucluelet,” Greig said. “They really want to move quickly and certainly the community of Ucluelet could use housing yesterday.”
He explained that staff are in discussion with the developer around the site being in a tsunami hazard zone and added environmental and archaeological assessments would need to be completed.
“Those pieces are sort of on the technical side, but other questions are more a matter of community feel or policy and really council are the decision makers. So, in order to keep things moving very quickly, because they would like to move very quickly, we brought this report together for council to consider,” he said.
“This isn’t a decision point. It is early. We haven’t received a complete application and council needs to keep an open mind for that application when it comes forward; there’s public input as part of that. Really, this is a chance to test the temperature and see where the feel is.”
He laid out several potential concerns about the project and asked council to weigh in on each one to determine whether there were any deal breakers out of the gate.
“Part of getting to an approval quickly and part of getting to ‘yes’ faster is also to see if there are any hurdles or stumbling blocks or things that need to be addressed. The quicker we can identify them actually helps the applicant,” he said “The spirit of this is to bring it forward and ask if there are any showstoppers or concerns that are leaving council members scratching their heads.”
Road configuration
The first potential hurdles Greig’s report pointed at is the proposed road configuration that would have parked vehicles backing out onto the roadway as well as a lack of pedestrian facilities.
“The site plan shows surface parking spaces backing directly onto the proposed road—this configuration treats the street more as the drive aisle for a parking lot, which is effective and safe at only the lowest speeds,” the report reads.
Coun. Ian Kennington suggested the street he lives on has a similar configuration and that children frequently play street hockey and pickleball lines have been painted on the roadway.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily different from what we currently have throughout the community,” Kennington said. “I personally don’t have a problem with it and I don’t think that should be something that holds up a development of such significance.”
Coun. Mark Maftei suggested that the benefits of the project outweigh the potential cons.
“I’ve, in my own mind, come to look at this project rather holistically. I think there are a lot of constraints to this site and the overall scope of the project that mean that we’re going to have to accept some compromises,” he said. “There’s nothing that sets off any alarm bells for me here.”
Mayor Marilyn McEwen added that the purpose of the proposal is to fit as much housing as possible in the space.
“The configuration of the whole property is meant to create density, which is what’s going to keep the affordability aspect,” she said.
Coun. Jennifer Hoar was the only councillor to express concern over the idea, suggesting pedestrians must be considered.
“It’s not necessarily a showstopper, but I do not want a pedestrian pathway to be completely ignored. There should be some sort of pathway,” she said.
She added that she did not like the idea of vehicles backing onto the roadway, but agreed with Kennington that that is already happening in other areas of the community and also agreed with McEwen about the importance of density.
“It may not be the prettiest,” she said. “While I can agree with the cars backing onto the roadway. I have a little bit more concern with their not being pedestrian pathways.”
Parkland designation
The next set of possible concerns Greig pitched involved no additional parkland designations being offered by the developer, though he noted a marine shoreline area had already been promised to the district during an earlier rezoning of the site in 2022.
“The ERIF team are requesting confirmation that no further park dedication will be required for the future development of the site,” his report reads.
Greig said the new neighbourhood could still include a playspace or gathering space as well as pedestrian trails within the stream corridor and shoreline park areas being given to the district.
“It sounds like a terrible idea, but the reality is the park dedication has already been made and the district has control of that asset and it’s considerable. I think it’s good enough,” Kennington said.
Coun. Shawn Anderson agreed.
“It’s an efficient use of space and we have to do what we have to do to get the affordable housing in there,” he said.
Maftei said ERIF “have been very forthright” about their approach to the project, but highlighted the ecological value of Olsen Bay and suggested a larger conversation would be needed about the area.
“It’s beyond the scope of this quick runthrough here, but I’d love to revisit this. I do think that is a sensitive ecosystem. I do think that it behooves us to consider potential impacts now so that we can plan for them,” he said. “I’d like to see it protected to the best of our ability and I think that we have every chance of doing that with ERIF moving forward.”
District to foot bill for public trails
Greig explained that ERIF had initially committed to building a gravel pedestrian trail system throughout the area, including the stream corridor and shoreline park areas, but are now requesting those trails be paid for by the district.
“Olsen Bay is a very sensitive marine ecosystem, and can be impacted by disturbance as minor as footprints. It is therefore important that appropriate trails or protections be constructed within the park areas before new residents begin to occupy the site, to enable people to experience the landscape (and connect to the Wild Pacific Trail) without inadvertently damaging the environment,” his report reads.
He added that the trails would need to be built before the homes are complete to prevent damage to the area.
“If we have a whole neighbourhood of people, you can imagine that people will find their way to the water if there isn’t proper facilities in place,” he said.
Anderson said the district should pay for the trails to keep the developer’s costs low and increase the affordability of the proposed residences.
“We’re in a housing crisis,” Anderson said, adding the district might be able to use Resort Municipality Initiative funding for the trails. “I don’t think putting that onus onto the developer that’s doing so much to house people that are desperate right now; I wouldn’t hold their feet to the fire on something like this.”
McEwen agreed RMI money would be eligible and district CAO Duane Lawrence confirmed that.
Maftei agreed with Anderson and said the district should foot the trail building bill.
“I think it would be a mistake to put them in a position where, going into the project, they’re on the hook for a major financial investment that is completely separate from what they’ve approached us to do, which is to build affordable housing,” he said. “I stand by my concern about stewarding the ecological integrity of the habitat there and I think the trails are important, but the fact that we as a community have access to other funds makes it a pretty easy thing to take off of their plate.”
Hoar agreed that the trails would need to be built before people begin moving in.
“Absolutely we need to do something to protect that site. We don’t want people in the housing accessing this with no protection,” she said.
“This is such a highly sensitive ecosystem that that absolutely has to be a priority. We do have access potentially to RMI funds or other funds, so I have no problem with taking over the costs, but I do think it needs to be prioritized so that it moves along speedily…I just absolutely don’t want to see housing there with no protection for that ecosystem.”
Tree clearing
Another potential showstopper raised in Greig’s report is that ERIF has requested the district waive a stipulation that a 30-metre wide tree buffer must be provided along both sides of the Pacific Rim Highway.
He said the buffer policy is in place to limit the clearing of trees as well as to keep the entrance to town treed and aesthetically attractive to drivers coming into town.
“The intent of this policy has been to maintain a forested entry into the community. Approaching Ucluelet is an experience of traveling through the forest, with glimpses of the surrounding mountains and Olsen Bay, before arriving in town,” his report reads. “The proposed development plan would change the experience of how residents and visitors approach and arrive in the community.”
Maftei said he’d like to have a more detailed conversation around the buffer.
“It’s the entrance to the community. I think it’s to the benefit of the people living there to have that buffer. I’ve spoken out against what I’ve considered to be reckless or unnecessary tree removal in the past and I’m certainly not going to change that opinion now,” Maftei said.
“Having said that, the reality is the bulk of this lot has already been cleared. What’s remaining there is of questionable ecological value in terms of terrestrial habitat. I think the mudflats habitat is critical, the forest habitat is mostly second growth scrub. But, I don’t want to see those trees cut down. I think this is something that we should really listen to what the public has to say.”
He added that he understood trees would need to be cleared to provide more room for housing, but suggested a compromise could be reached.
Kennington countered that the entrance to town currently includes a gas station and scrap yard.
“Of course everybody loves trees. I love them too,” he said. “It’s interesting how we talk about the entrance to town and currently the entrance to town is you drive through a forest and end up at a pile of tires. I’m thinking we have an opportunity to change how we enter the town to increase its visual value and create a place where you enter into a community of homes rather than a gas station and a lumber yard and various other things before you get into the heart of our community.”
He added that the community needs housing and sacrifices must be made to attain it.
“If housing is as critical as we all know it is, I think there’s going to be tough choices to be made now and in the future about how we deliver the 800 homes that we have to deliver in the next 20 years to meet our housing targets,” he said. “This site is disturbed and I don’t necessarily see it as a negative visual impact. All it essentially does is it moves that treed entrance to town just 800 metres out. I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to hold up literally hundreds of housing units for people who are literally crying about it.”
McEwen agreed.
“This is another one of those sacrifices that may need to occur in order to get that density for the housing to make it affordable,” she said. “It’s not ideal for sure, but it could be worse. It could be another stack of used tires.”
Anderson agreed with Kennington that the town’s entrance already has “questionable sightlines.”
Anderson added that an affordable housing community and an “innovative solution for a housing crisis in a small town at the end of the road,” is the sort of thing Ucluelet should want highlighted at its entrance.
“If you’re going to showcase something in your town that’s like, ‘We did something right,’ I think this is something I would want to show,” he said.
Hoar said removing the tree buffer was a tough ask.
“I do understand that to get density we need to narrow it down, but dropping it this narrow, basically making it non-existent, I have problems with that,” she said.
“I do understand we need density. I do understand that means we need the land, but I worry about narrowing that buffer. Maybe it doesn’t need to be 30 metres, but I really have an issue with it.”
Highway speed reduction
Council was also asked if they would support extending the town’s 50 km/h speed limit an extra 1,000 metres to accommodate the new development. The area’s current speed limit is 70 km/h.
That hurdle seemed to be a cinch for council as all quickly agreed to the change.
“I am totally for this. That 50 km/h speed zone should have been moved outside of town a little further a while back,” Hoar said, noting the parking situation at the Wild Pacific Trail’s Ancient Cedars Loop has been “unsafe” for quite some time.
“People are dashing across the road and vehicles are coming around at speed around the corners; I am totally in support of this one,” she said.
Anderson agreed.
“I echo that 100 per cent,” he said.
Greig had pointed out the Ancient Cedars area in his report, and also suggested the reduced speed would have little impact on commuters’ arrival times.
“Staff note that parking on the road edge near the Ancient Cedars trailhead to the Wild Pacific Trail is less than ideal,” his report reads. “Reducing the speed limit to 50km/h northwest of that point—perhaps at the corner near the Olsen Bay pump station—could improve the safety and comfort of road users at that point as well. Travel time for a vehicle travelling at 50km/h vs 70km/h over that distance would mean an additional 20 seconds to reach town.”
Short term rentals
Somewhat surprisingly, given their attitude towards vacation accommodations in the recent past, council also seemed unanimous in their support of allowing the development to include the proposed 29 short term vacation rentals.
Coun. Ian Kennington suggested his only concern around allowing rentals was “the public perception.”
He said ERIF had presented financial plans that showed the viability of affordable housing with short term rentals included and suggested the development could set a precedent that developers wanting to build tourist accommodations would have to provide benefits to the community, like affordable housing.
“I think it’s supportable,” he said.
Maftei acknowledged his previously consistent disdain for new tourist accomodation developments, but suggested it was worth the trade-off in this case.
“I think I’m the most vocal critic of STRs (short term rentals). If I had my druthers, we would see no STRs. I don’t support them, but I also understand the math here. As reluctant as I am to support STRs, if that’s the way forward, then I would definitely consider that it’s the best of a bad situation,” he said. “As it’s been presented, I have difficulty criticizing it in the blanket way that I have with other proposals that have been a cash grab…For me, it’s not a deal breaker at this point.”
Hoar agreed.
“They’re providing an awful lot of affordable and attainable housing and there is a little bit of a pill to swallow with it. While I might not be a short term rental fan, I do understand that it does allow this project to get off the ground and continue to be affordable,” she said.
