An affordable housing project in Steveston for women and children – announced just 10 days ago – already has its detractors, with someone circulating a petition against it.
The federal government and City of Richmond announced on June 2 a $9.1 million, 25-unit project on city-owned land at Railway Avenue and Steveston Highway.
Steveston resident Mina Kaur was surprised when, within a week of the announcement, a woman knocked on her door asking her to sign a petition against it.
Having affordable homes for others in the neighbourhood is an “excellent” idea, Kaur said, especially as the building will house women and children.
“Aren’t they the ones who need the most help?” she said, adding without safe housing, it’s harder for people to get back on their feet.
“I feel it’s such a smart move,” she added.
Kaur was taken aback by the petition - telling the woman she wouldn’t sign it - and she was concerned with what she heard as misinformation about the project and mischaracterization of the people it will house.
The woman with the petition mentioned issues about parking and the preference for townhouses instead of apartments. But, Kaur added, “the thing that was really disturbing was (her) saying it was for drug addicts.”
While the building will have affordable housing, the type of housing that usually has rents based on income levels, Kaur said she takes issue with the fact that poor people are being characterized as addicts.
Kaur said she’s lucky to live in a neighbourhood with single-family homes on large lots, many built in the 1970s and 1980s.
Kaur recalls when a community garden was being planned on the greenbelt near her house. At first, she was hesitant as she was worried about parking issues. In the end, she said, the gardeners have been respectful and there are no issues with the community garden.
She equates it to this housing project and suspects people living in the area are just resistant to change – something she said is “totally unfair.”
Turning Point Housing Society will manage the long-term affordable housing building as well as the applications to live there, city spokesperson Clay Adams told the News.
The city is aware of the petition, Adams added, but they haven’t been formally notified of it.
The location at Railway and Steveston Highway was chosen because it is city-owned land. The funding from the federal government required projects to go ahead in an “expedited manner,” Adams explained, and this lot met that requirement.
Furthermore, the location is in a “family-friendly neighbourhood,” he added.
The city has received a rezoning application from Boni Maddison Architects to rezone the property. The half-acre property is currently zoned for a single-family home.
