Prince Edward County Council has voted to approve a $5 million loan to the Prince Edward County Affordable Housing Corporation.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, councillors debated the loan to the Affordable Housing Corporation to cover the costs of preparing multiple sites for housing development, after a failed bid for funding through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund.
The Prince Edward County Affordable Housing Corporation is working on two sites for housing development. One site is at 230 Niles Street in Wellington and is planned to have 40 units. The other site is in Picton at 30 Disraeli Street and is planned to contain 12 units.
The proposal sparked vigorous debate among councillors, with some concerned about the financial viability of the project and whether the buildings would ever be built or the loans repaid.
Councillor Phil St-Jean said it was important to make progress on housing, as people were leaving the community because they couldn’t find housing they could afford.
“It is sad that we’ve been poking at affordable housing for almost five years here, just poking at it, and we’re not getting anywhere,” said Councillor St-Jean. “I’m going to ask for council members to take that little tiny small leap of faith and say yes, we are willing to invest in our community to invest in our in affordable housing.”
Councillor Chris Braney proposed deferring the decision to a later date in order to give municipal staff time to look at alternative options for funding the project.
“Do we want to go heavy into the housing game, without a great deal of experience and when there are some viable options that give me more hope?” asked Councillor Braney.
The motion to defer failed, and the plans to provide the loan passed.
