Coun. Stephen Andrew, who voted to move the initiative forward, agreed the city has to do something, though he expressed concern about the effect of increasing density on some neighbourhoods.
Coun. Marianne Alto said creating new townhomes in traditional single-family neighbourhoods could free up units in lower-cost housing. “It does fit into that transitional piece, around the continuum of housing,” she said. “And while it may not be directly affordable, it will create some additional affordability in other existing units.”
But Young said fears residents have about infill townhomes and multi-unit projects are justified, because in the past, the city has not adequately closed off loopholes and some developers, in turn, have exploited them to build bigger and more intrusive buildings.
“I think it will produce very large buildings that will, in a sense, exploit the public realm in that they will, in some cases, tower over the adjoining buildings and exploit the availability of street parking,” he said.
Isitt said he has “no interest” in moving forward on a missing-middle proposal that’s missing affordability.
Thornton-Joe said the fact the committee spent more than four hours asking questions about the proposal Thursday, shows there is still a lot to debate and it’s not yet ready for prime time.
https://www.timescol...ictoria-5364040
Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 May 2022 - 06:05 AM.