At 6 p.m. next Wednesday in the conference centre the first of 273 names will be drawn for the chance to buy one of the 21 lots in the Barnfield Farm employee subdivision. Whistler Valley Housing Society Chairman Max Kirkpatrick said originally he expected about 150 applications for the lottery. He suggested the 273 applications — each of which was accompanied by a $500 deposit — is an indication of how big the demand for affordable housing has become. Five lots, roughly 25 per cent of the lots in the lottery, will be available exclusively to people who have lived in Whistler for five years or more. Of the 273 applications, 170 have lived in Whistler for more than five years. There was only one application, from Emma Bayliffe, for the one lot that was available to a handicapped resident. The lot was only recently designated for a handicapped local. Developers Jon Pain and Steve Bayly had requested two lots in the 23-lot subdivision be set aside for two of their employees. When they later discovered only one employee qualified, they sought suggestions for what should be done with the second lot. Reserving it for physically handicapped residents was the solution. More than 550 people requested applications for the lottery, although only 273 were returned by Wednesday’s entry deadline. The Barnfield subdivision is at the end of Crabapple Drive in Whistler Cay.
