Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson wants immediate action on affordable housing by having city council adopt all recommendations in the Mayor’s Task Force on Affordable Housing final report released September 26.
A staff report arising from the task force report recommends several initatives that city council will vote on next week.
These include:
- developing an operational model and business plan for a city housing authority;
- initiating “thin street” pilot projects through the three community plans underway;
- allowing duplexes, row houses and stacked townhouses to be built within 1.5 blocks of an arterial street.
“Launching this task force was my first action after being re-elected, because tackling housing affordability is one of Vancouver’s most urgent priorities,” Robertson said.
During the summer, when the task force was compiling its report, the city embarked on a controversial affordable housing initiative that provides developers with free long-term leases on city land if they build residences to house the working poor, low-income families and debt-weary students at below-market rents.
