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‘Trophy homes’ not the problem

Task force fleshing out initiatives to retain employee housing stock The municipality can’t point to the so-called "trophy homes" as an excuse for the lack of affordability in Whistler, said local developer Tim Regan.

Task force fleshing out initiatives to retain employee housing stock

The municipality can’t point to the so-called "trophy homes" as an excuse for the lack of affordability in Whistler, said local developer Tim Regan.

"Nineteen-ninety-four was the end of affordability," he said in a brief presentation to the new housing task force made up of 11 Whistler residents reviewing non-cost housing initiatives.

Regan recalls that it was at that time when property values jumped to the next level (around the $350,000 mark) and effectively excluded the average worker in Whistler on a fixed income from getting a mortgage at the bank.

"The math ran out," said Regan.

It was also at that time when Regan, who owns and operates Vision Pacific development company, stopped building suites in old cabins.

"It was cheaper, easier and more profitable at that stage just to knock those houses over," he said.

This may have marked the beginning of the erosion of Whistler’s housing market for the employees who live and rent here.

The information didn’t come as any surprise to the new housing task force, a group charged with reviewing a list of non-cost resident housing initiatives recently developed by municipal staff and the Whistler Housing Authority.

The facts about Whistler’s housing situation speak for themselves.

Ten years ago there were 75 suites built in Whistler homes annually. In the last three years there has been less than 20 per year.

Smaller, older, and more affordable homes are being replaced by larger homes, which is also eroding the resident housing market.

And some families no longer want to rent their suites for additional income, preferring instead to use that space for their families.

There’s a combination of factors eating away at the availability of the resident housing market and the task force is looking a ways to stop the drain of the existing resident housing stock.

There was a variety of suggestions brought forth at last Friday’s meeting, the second of three meetings before the task force reports its ideas to council at the Monday, Feb. 17 meeting.

"Why don’t we have a marketing campaign to get you to rent out your homes?" suggested Councillor Caroline Lamont, who was sitting in at the meeting.

The campaign could run every spring or fall to encourage homeowners to rent suites, which are an integral part of the housing market and are important to the success of the valley, she said.

Citing the fact that the housing solutions are very complicated to understand, task force member Tom Horler suggested there could be a position created just to deal with housing questions and concerns from the public.

"I would like to see the creation of an ombudsman for housing," he said.

Other incentives to get people to keep renting their suites were offered at the meeting, like free parking in the village or discounts at local restaurants or at Meadow Park for people who keep or create suites.

The problem is that many people have a nightmare story of renting to tenants.

"Nobody wants them in their house anymore," said Dave McColm.

But there is some excitement among task force members around the suggestion of allowing a "granny suite" above a detached garage, which would be more in line with a caretaker’s suite outside of the main house.

"The more tools that we can give our citizens through their own private initiatives to increase their income, the better," said Horler, referring to a mythical nurse living in Alpine on a fixed income and facing increasing property taxes.

The basic idea would be that a homeowner could build a detached garage and put a restricted suite above it to be rented to an employee.

"It absolutely has to be restricted," said Councillor Kristi Wells, chair of the task force.

"The purpose of this is to create restricted employee housing across the board."

Another initiative, which was strongly supported by the task force, was an increase of the Employee Works and Services Charge on commercial developments.

Currently that charge is just under $6,000 for the provision of one employee bed unit. The municipality uses a formula to calculate how many employee bed units a commercial or industrial building would generate and presents the charge to the developer accordingly. Although there was recently a nominal increase to this charge, it hasn’t really changed much over the long run.

"Increasing the rates should be a no-brainer," said Drew Meredith, former mayor of Whistler and a local real estate agent.

He added under his breath that the increases should be somewhat consistent with the increases of the school taxes on residents’ yearly tax bills.

There was also support in the group to add the Employee Works and Services Charge to homes which are over 3,500 square feet in size. Recent studies in Colorado show that large homes create the need for more employees.

"Right now (the charge) is peanuts," said McColm, adding that homeowners could get credit back from the municipality by putting in an employee suite.

There was also an idea to penalize homeowners who are demolishing a house with a suite. They may either have to pay a premium on top of the $130 it costs for a demolition permit, or they may have to build the new house with a suite.

Sean Richmond, one of the youngest members of the task force, reminded the members why they were all there working towards these new initiatives that would stop the erosion of employee housing.

He said: "You need to house the people that clean your toilets and baby sit your kids and build your $4-million homes."