"The report highlighted census figures from 2006 and 2016 that showed the median age of Metchosin residents increased from 45.5 to 51.5. Residents aged 65 and over make up 22 per cent of the population, up from 12 per cent in 2006.
Ranns said the report makes recommendations based on the needs of an urban community, not a rural one like Metchosin is.
He added that the district tries to be flexible with allowing people to run businesses from within their homes, add secondary suites to their homes and have mobile homes on their property, which he said should help solve the issues of affordability, seniors looking to downsize and the lack of rental housing options in the community. But he said building new housing would be ineffective, especially seniors-focused housing, when Metchosin is far away from most services seniors need.
“There’s trade-offs on everything,” he said. “If you want to have agriculture, or if you want to have open spaces, if you want to have places that people can drive through and visit the farmers’ markets, you can’t have all these urban amenities.”
“Do we basically condemn this community into being another Langford, another Colwood — is that good for the region?” he added."