Paradise waives fees for church run affordable housing unit

By Mark Squibb

Paradise council has voted to waive some fees for Calvary Baptist Church in relation to the construction of affordable housing units just off the Karwood Drive roundabout, but not without considerable discussion first.
Councillor Deborah Quilty brought the matter forward during the April 8 public meeting.
She said Calvary Baptist Church submitted a letter on February 6 requesting fees associated with the construction of an affordable housing project, including development and building fees, processing fees, occupancy permits, and excavation permits be waived.
Quilty said the church is a registered charity, and the development will consist of 40 affordable, seniors housing units spread across four buildings. The units will be available for seniors with an annual income of less than $30,000.
The project has already been approved for provincial and federal government funding, and while the Town does offer reduced permit fees for such builds, there is no program guiding the implementation. Quilty said other communities in the region, such as St. John’s and CBS, have established initiatives for the construction of affordable housing projects.
She added the Town has supported similar affordable housing projects, such as those conducted by the not-for-profit Habitat for Humanity (coincidentally, later in the meeting, council approved a property transfer in favour of Habitat for Humanity.)
The difference this time around is that people availing of Habitat for Humanity properties pay a mortgage and will one day own the properties; folks at the Karwood Drive development, meanwhile, will pay a monthly rental rate.
Staff, said Quilty, recommended that council take a similar approach to the one they took with Habitat for Humanity, and suggested waiving the building permit processing fee of $2,000, the building permit fee of $6,140, and the excavation and grading fee of $2,000 for a total of $10,140.
Councillor Quilty said there was considerable discussion at the previous committee of the whole meeting where council had discussed a potential $4,000 fee waiver — far below the $10,140 about to be voted upon for the Church.
“Having discussed this at a committee of the whole level I was under the understanding that we were voting on a waiver of $4,000, and I don’t know if other councillors had the same understanding, but I would certainly like to hear from council on that,” said Quilty.
Councillor Larry Vaters echoed Quilty’s concern and asked whether the matter should be sent back to staff for clarification before council made a discussion.
Mayor Dan Bobbett, however, felt that, regardless of what was discussed in the committee meeting, the information that had since been provided to council was correct, and therefore there was no further information that staff could provide.
Deputy Mayor Kimberley Street added that while council had discussed a fee waiver of $4,000, it was noted during the meeting that that amount would need to be clarified.
Street voiced her support for the project and praised the application itself.
“We rarely receive anything as specific as this when it comes to building affordable housing,” said Street. “Like Councillor Quilty said, the only other thing has been Habitat (for Humanity.) We’ve seen many development plans using the words ‘affordable housing,’ but of course that has a different meaning to many. This project supports an actual income-based application as well as a commitment to sustaining the affordability for 30 years, and I think that’s really important.”
Councillor Glen Carew concurred with Street’s assessment, adding that rental rates would be predicated and calculated by Newfoundland and Labrador Housing.
Councillors Patrick Martin, Tommy Maher, and Bobbett, also voiced their support for the project.
“I would support it,” said Bobbett, who noted the waiver would amount to about $250 per unit. “It’s a provincially and federally funded project, and this is truly affordable housing, and this is something we’ve all heard from residents that they want to see within our community. This is a great project, and I would support it.”