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Your source for local news, sports, opinion and entertainment: www.thenownews.com
Coquitlam houses need $130,000 in family income
Fire hall plans to be scaled back? Jennifer McFee jmcfee@thenownews.com Plans for Port Moody’s new fire hall are heating up. Six weeks ago, Port Moody council voted 4-2 against borrowing up to $16 million to rebuild Fire Hall No. 1 at its current location — despite support from voters in a recent referendum. Now a task force is reviewing the fire hall replacement project and will provide recommendations to council on June 28. Mayor Joe Trasolini said “good work” is underway by the task force — made up of councillors Karen Rockwell, Meghan Lahti and Gerry Nuttall, who all voted against the referendum results. “The aim is to once again save as much money for the residents as possible, and at the same time deliver the same quality of fire hall as anticipated and under the same timeline,” said Trasolini, who also voted against borrowing the funds. “Right now, it would be not appropriate to reach conclusions until there is the final report, but I am excited about the potential conclusions.” Rockwell, the task force chair, said they are looking at building the new fire hall at Newport Drive and Knowle Street. The original project included plans to build a temporary fire hall at this location at a cost of $750,000 while Fire Hall No. 1 was rebuilt on its existing site at Murray Street and Ioco Road. “We reviewed the public feedback that we received. People wanted the fire hall in the same vicinity that it is currently. However, the site SEE PAGE 3, PORT MOODY.
Affordability cornerstone of housing plan John Kurucz jkurucz@thenownews.com
Paul vanPeenen/NOW
AN AIR OF ROMANCE: A clear day at Lafarge Lake serves as the perfect setting to sit back and catch the view.
It’s going to take at least $130,000 in combined family income to even qualify for a mortgage if you want to own a house in Coquitlam. Those numbers and other sobering housing stats were revealed at Monday’s land use and economic development committee meeting, where a lack of affordable rental stock and persistent affordability barriers were cited as the principal obstacles in moving the city’s affordable housing strategy forward. “Entry-level homeownership continues to be out of reach for many Coquitlam households, particularly for single parent families and singles. For example, in 2011 the benchmark price of a detached house in Coquitlam is $697,000, so that a household income of approximately $130,000 would be required to qualify for a mortgage,” according to a city staff report. That report also points out that “roughly four out of every 10 households in Coquitlam is a renter household, and renter household incomes tend not to keep pace with increases in rent levels.” Now four years since its inception, the city’s affordable housing strategy was given a
refresher at Monday’s committee meeting, as council and staff reflected on their efforts to curb homelessness, while also addressing housing and funding gaps. The majority of the conversation centred around renewed calls for funding and policy help from senior governments, and age-old concerns that senior governments have left municipalities hanging out to dry. “My concern comes into how far do we take downloading into this realm of housing,” said Coun. Brent Asmundson. “The federal government and the provincial government have really abdicated their responsibilities in this area, especially in rental housing.” Established in April 2007, the strategy lays out four actions that the city can take regarding housing needs: policy development, advocacy and involvement, using city land for leasing opportunities in collaboration with senior governments, and enacting regulatory policies to encourage affordable housing initiatives. The housing strategy has been a work in progress since 2007, and 2008 saw the city introduce an affordable housing reserve fund and density bonus program to secure affordable housing stock. Through that density bonus program and other policies, the city has generated about $500,000 towards its reserve fund. Combating homelessness made up the lion’s share of SEE PAGE 4, COALITION.
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