The Harrow Road project being proposed by Sea to Sky Community Services (SSCS) in Pemberton has the potential to dramatically increase our supply of affordable rental units. For those of you who are unaware of this project, the project will be for a mix of rents and incomes within a single building, providing affordable non-market rental housing to families, seniors, and persons with disabilities. Thirty per cent of units will be market rentals (moderate incomes), 50 per cent will be “rent geared to income” (subsidized units for households that meet BC Housing limits), and 20-per-cent deep subsidy (low incomes). The housing program does not include housing with support services or residential care components. The proposed development will have 63 housing units for community members and ground floor commercial space, some of which will be for SSCS staff and programs so they can provide much needed community services in Pemberton. Sea to Sky Community Services, the Village of Pemberton, and BC Housing have partnered on this exciting project.
Many in our community are loudly opposed to this project being approved. Understandably there are concerns about the size of the building, the potential for shading the homes directly behind it, and increased traffic. SSCS has addressed these concerns on its website, and I encourage those opposed to take a moment to learn that their valid concerns have been addressed, facts clearly presented, and solutions found. Why would you not support a project that will allow seniors to continue to live in a community they love? Why would you not support a project that will provide working families a secure rental for as long as they want to work and serve our community? Where will community members in need find support if SSCS cannot find affordable rental space to operate? Young adults in our region do not have the ability to take the first step towards independence, renting a suite of their own, due to the housing crisis. People are leaving town, never to return, as they cannot find a place to live.
The Harrow Road Project must be approved by the Village of Pemberton mayor and council. The future of our community depends on this project. I urge all of you who are struggling to pay your rent, those of you who are living in sub-standard conditions, and those who simply cannot find a place to rent, to write a letter to Pemberton’s mayor and council in support of this project. Even a short email letting them know how many of us are in desperate need of affordable housing will demonstrate the high level of community support for this project. Pemberton desperately needs affordable rental housing and approval of the Harrow Road Project is a vital step in making sure those who work here can afford to live here.
Tania Chiasson // Pemberton
