Housing themes a focus for segments of tonight's Prince Rupert City Council Session

City Council returns for the final quarter of their work for 2023 with housing among the main themes for the session tonight.

The housing overview begins with a correspondence from the province's Hosing Minster Ravi Kahlon, who has relayed some notes and the results on the 2023 Homeless study released last week.

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That Homelessness report document which we reviewed last Friday notes for the council membership that the current level of homelessness in Prince Rupert is at 146, a significant jump from the count from 2021 which had noted of 118 residents counted as homeless.

The Housing themes continue this evening with some progress for the proposed apartment development at the corner of Frederick Street and Hays Cove Avenue, with City Council to be asked to move the Gitmaxmak'ay Nisga;a led project forward to statutory notification.

The report tonight will also provide background on the Gitmaxmak'ay Nisga'a Society plans for the location, part of a response to the city's call for Request's of Expression  of Interest towards housing for the location.

The notes also provide details towards two variance requests related to the proposed development

The full report for council can be reviewed from the Agenda package for tonight's session starting on page 32.

The final part of the Housing Trilogy for the evening will come with a request for approval of Council for the Housing Action Plan and its focus on the Housing Accelerator Fund.

The key element of the report which you can review from the City Council agenda starting on page 61 , notes of the path forward over the next three years towards development of housing in the community.

"In adopting this plan, Council is not approving any individual bylaw amendment or policy actions but rather signalling their commitment to support an increase in supply of housing that strategically meets the communities needs. 

These targeted actions are proposed to be implemented over the next 3 years to target growth for the next ten years. The actions described in this plan will involve community input and public process before implementation, especially those requiring bylaw amendments. 

Many of these actions are funding dependent; however, several policy directions can be implemented without Federal grant support. Meanwhile, if unsuccessful in achieving HAF funding, staff will continuously seek available funding streams to dedicate towards the higher-cost programs proposed, like the preparation of City land, for instance."

As all of the items above are part of the Agenda for tonight, they will be available for comment from the public at the start of the Council session, should anyone have questions, concerns or wish to offer their words of support to the initiatives.

More notes on what's ahead for the night can be reviewed from our Preview page here.

Our past notes on Housing in Prince Rupert can be explored here.