Plan to speed up housing approvals angers some Saugeen Shores homeowners

As CTV London’s Scott Miller reports, Saugeen Shores breaks ground on an affordable housing project, but residents push back against expedited housing approvals

Shovels are officially in the ground for Port Elgin’s latest, and largest, affordable housing project.

“The scale of the housing affordability issue is large enough that we need to start doing larger projects in order to bite off more of the challenge. So, this is a larger project, a 28-unit project that’s going to provide affordable housing, hopefully for 28 families in the town of Saugeen Shores,” said Town of Saugeen Shores Mayor Luke Charbonneau.

Sheila Latham has no qualms about this project, but she is concerned about future housing developments in Port Elgin and Southampton, specifically a proposed plan to speed up housing approvals from 180 days to 75 days.

“I’m concerned that the CPPS puts Southampton’s heritage buildings and our historic identity in jeopardy,” said the Southampton homeowner.

Saugeen Shores is considering implementing a CPPS, or Community Permit Planning System, which would speed up approvals, Latham says, by eliminating councillor approval for some housing projects in and near the downtown areas of Port Elgin and Southampton.

If certain pre-arranged requirements are met, Saugeen Shores planning staff could green-light some housing projects without any council sign-off, she says.

“What I’m really concerned about is the, the small Ontario cottages, which is a well-recognized build form that dates back to the early 1800s, and Southampton has many of them. And I can see developers looking at those little cottages and saying to themselves, ‘I can put a six-plex or an eight-plex on that lot. I can maximize the density and build right to the property lines, and I can make a lot more money than if I were to maintain the little one-storey hipped roof Ontario cottage,’” said Latham.

Latham says about 12 of 444 Ontario municipalities have implemented a CPPS for new housing developments. She doesn’t want Saugeen Shores to make it 13.

“I know that many people in the community are concerned, and they believe that this should be an election issue. We want the councillors to say what their position is on this, and it’s going to make a difference,” said Latham.

Saugeen Shores is one of Ontario’s fastest growing communities, adding more than 5,000 residents over the past decade. Saugeen Shores council is expected to vote on whether to implement a Community Permit Planning System at a July 13 meeting.

“The CPPS has become a bit of a controversial issue in the community, and that’s fair enough. We’re listening to the public and we will ultimately follow what the public wants to see us do,” said Charbonneau. “But, the public should count on us looking at every possible opportunity to find out ways to build more housing in this town. To stay a great community, it has to be a place where anybody can find a home.

Charbonneau added, “I think we have to look back at what we’ve done over the last 150 years of this community and realize that just building a lot of single-family homes and that being all we’re doing isn’t getting us where we need to be. We have to have some apartment buildings. We have to have some walk ups, some split levels, some duplexes, some four plexes, we have to have some of all of that. That’s how you have a complete community.”

Construction on the 28-unit affordable housing project unveiled today in Port Elgin, will begin shortly. Five of the 28 units will be administered by Habitat for Humanity Grey-Bruce, while two will be managed by the Town of Saugeen Shores. The rest will be sold at below-market pricing by Wilson Developments, say Saugeen Shores officials.