New View Holdings will proceed with  development of affordable housing and a community hub at the former school site. The vote carried 10 to 3. Councillors Nieman, Braney, and Pennell were opposed. 

Seven formal deputations and more than 20 comments from the audience demonstrated the deep division between community members over plans for affordable housing in the heart of one of Picton’s oldest neighbourhoods.

For those on Barker, Paul, and Centre streets, the high-density housing proposal is unwelcome. But the meeting drew many residents in support, who called on Council to honour its commitments to put living here within reach for more people.

The municipality purchased the school site, which was declared surplus in 2018, with the intention of building rental units and a social services hub. 

New View stood out among five developer submissions, the result of a call for a developer to enter into a private-public partnership with the County after it failed to secure federal funding for a fully public development. 

Council voted to endorse its proposal last November. As an incentive, it promised to waive taxes on all affordable units and the community hub for 20 years.

New View proposes more affordable rental units in one development than the County has ever seen. Of the 198 one and two-bedroom apartments, 50% will be affordable.

There will also be a 22,500 square foot community services hub, for which the County will hold the lease.

The units will be spread across 4 buildings, which range from three to 4.5 stories tall. The company is headed by Tim Neeb and Alan Hirschfield, who also partner on the Homes First Nicholas Street development next to Delhi Park.

The municipality is selling the property for the $1.5 million purchase price and carrying costs. 

Council allocated about a third of Picton’s available water and wastewater capacity to phase one of the project: 125 rental housing units and the hub space. New View must pre-pay connection charges for water servicing. 

Our number one priority is housing, particularly affordable housing. 
Getting it right means taking care of our residents who really need help.

Mayor Steve Ferguson

The project application was filed before Council passed an interim-control bylaw to pause development until infrastructure needs are updated. The remainder of the units can only be built when capacity comes available to support it.

Opposing Views

Sami Lester, a social worker, stressed her experience with vulnerable community members. 

“I’m not only speaking out because I know what the people in our community need, but also I know how vulnerable I am and how vulnerable you are in the blink of an eye.”

Other speakers drew on personal experiences with housing precarity, as well as professional experience working with vulnerable and low-income community members. 

“I’m not here before you as a resident of Prince Edward County,” said Kendall Markland. “I am someone who was born and raised here and whose family goes back generations on all sides.” But, she added, “ten years ago I was priced out of this area and the terrifying part is I’ve seen it only get worse from there.”

Christine Durant, coordinator of PELC’s Inspire Program, which connects youth to employment, noted that many of the Learning Centre’s clients can’t afford to live in town.

“Housing continues to be a barrier we can’t overcome,” she said. “When youth have housing, it is a game changer.”

A large delegation attended the meeting to urge Council to pause the sale to hold more fulsome public consultation. Members of Citizens for a Better Queen E called for significantly lower density and a 30/70 split of affordable to market rent. 

A survey asked residents to weigh in on site plan considerations such as density and building heights, as well as broader considerations such as traffic safety and the project’s alignment with key principles of the 2021 Official Plan. It received a 70% response rate.

Increased traffic and the safety risks associated with it were top of mind, followed closely by worries about density. 

Marilyn Leighton said that the height and density of the proposed buildings does not align with parts of the County’s Official Plan. 

“You’re supposed to be sensitive to integration in the existing forms and landscapes in ways that contribute to the character of the area while enhancing the character of the County,” she said. 

Director of Housing, Adam Goheen, stressed that nothing has been decided. New View will engage in the standard approval process, which will include community consultation, detailed plans, a traffic impact study, a review of parking requirements, servicing studies, and rezoning approval.

“To assuage some of the concerns we heard from the deputants tonight, a fulsome community conversation has been outlined and is in that agreement. It is required to be done and has been agreed to by New View,” he noted.

New View will host a charrette, a mediated public meeting, on some features of the property. While the density and height of the buildings are locked in, landscaping, parking, and design are not. 

Mr. Goheen stressed that the sale will only go through once every phase of planning is completed to satisfaction. 

“There is integrity to the developer approval process.” 

“We established as a Council that our number one priority is housing, particularly affordable housing,” said Mayor Steve Ferguson. 

“Getting it right means taking care of our residents who really need help.”