SHARE Nelson heard a mix of skepticism and support for its planned five-storey affordable project in Fairview at an open house on Jan. 11.
Jim Reimer, chair of the SHARE Housing Initiative, started the evening by telling the crowd that he has employers encouraging him to "get this thing built, Jim" because they can't attract or keep staff because of lack of housing in the city.
He said the proposed building would provide housing for Nelson workers with low-to-moderate income, noting that it is very difficult for anyone making less than $30 per hour to afford housing in Nelson.
"We successfully did that at Herridge Place," he said, referring to the non-profit organization's previously completed housing project at 102 Herridge Lane. "Now we want to do it again on the Fell Street housing project."
The project, proposed for two lots at 1306 and1308 Fell Street near Selkirk College's Tenth Street campus, would provide 10 two-bedroom units, 26 one bedroom units and 12 studio units. In February, SHARE Nelson will submit a funding application to BC Housing. If that is successful, and all other processes fall into place, construction would start during the winter of 2025-26.
"This project is not for supportive housing," Reimer said. "It's not an addiction treatment centre or a homeless shelter. It's for people that are from our area, living in this community, and that are working in our city."
The building would house three categories of rentals: near-market (14 units), rent geared to 30 per cent of income (24 units), and deep subsidy (10 units). The rent subsidies would come from BC Housing. SHARE Nelson states that it expects many tenants to be workers at the Nelson Health Campus, which is under construction across the street from the proposed site.
Placards around the room at the open house included maps, floor plans, architect renderings, and descriptions of building materials.
Ten parking stalls will be located behind the building along with an entrance to below-ground parking for 28 vehicles, 72 long- and short-term bike spaces, and vehicle chargers, all accessed from 11th Street.
The SHARE Nelson materials said low-to-moderate income could include workers in retail, health care, tourism, hospitality, fitness, ski hill, transportation/delivery, cleaning, maintenance, food services, and entry level trades.
The Fell Street lots are owned by the City of Nelson, which is donating them to SHARE Nelson. Plans for the project were first made public in June 2024.
Reimer acknowledged that not everyone welcomes the development.
"We recognize that not everyone is going to get what they want, and that is the issue around living in community. We have to make compromises, and we have to try to figure out what is the best that we can possibly do."
He said SHARE Nelson wants to hear everyone's views, and he invited people to talk to his staff at the open house or fill out the feedback forms provided.
Anna Pauly and some other neighbours of the proposed building have dissenting views. They think the building is too tall and too close to single family residences. They say it also goes against the Official Community Plan and that the public communication process has been faulty.
Pauly said the building would be 5.5 metres from her house.
"With that scale and height comes lack of sunshine, light pollution, noise pollution. It's a complete invasion of privacy and peaceful living."
Reimer told the Nelson Star that if the building were reduced to four storeys it would have a greater impact because to get the same number of living units the building would have a larger footprint on the lot.
SHARE Nelson's Peter Chipman added if the size of the building were reduced to two-storey townhouses, as some are requesting, SHARE could not get funding from BC Housing because the impact on housing stock would be too small.
Increasing the number of units in a development makes it more viable because it decreases the cost of construction per unit, he said.
Official Community Plan
Nelson's Official Community Plan states that Fairview should be restricted to low-density residential development. It also says that the city should prioritize diverse housing types and affordable housing, and that if there are townhouses and apartment buildings built in Fairview they should be in the vicinity of the Tenth Street Campus and Mountain Lake Seniors Community.
The two lots on Fell Street are zoned institutional because of their proximity fo Selkirk College. SHARE Nelson has requested that the city rezone the property to high density housing. This will come to council for a vote and a public hearing in the near future.
When changing zoning it is not uncommon for the city to also change the Official Community Plan to conform with the new use.
"Rezoning it to high density and a five-storey building just seems completely unreasonable," Pauly said, adding that the residents are the ones who should decide whether a development fits in a neighbourhood. Given this inconsistency with the OCP, she says there are other pieces of land the city and SHARE could have chosen. She wants to see the city's inventory of potential sites and the reasons that the Fell Street lots were chosen.
Nelson's city manager Kevin Cormack told the Nelson Star in an email that there is no such inventory for large projects such as the one in question. He said the city has only identified three city-owned properties that would work: the Fell Street lots, the lots on Front Street that Nelson CARES hopes to develop, and a Tenth Street campus property which is being considered for future student housing.
"It was not a viable option at this time," Cormack said, "but we will continue to work with the college for a future project. The city is also working with the college to sub-divide off the core campus from current underutilized lands, which will be available in the future for housing projects."
He said there was no suitable city-owned land elsewhere in the city.
"All other city land has restrictions that would not have been able to be addressed in time for (BC Housing's funding) call for 2025," Cormack said. "The land inventory done a number of years ago isn’t current or really relevant for these projects."
He said council has directed staff to work with other public land owners including Selkirk College, Interior Health, and School District 8 on lands they own that could potentially support affordable housing projects in the future.
The City of Nelson has over the past year granted $15,000 to SHARE Nelson to fund the preparation of their funding application to BC Housing, which has itself also funded some of that preparatory work.
Pauly wants to know why BC Housing, SHARE Nelson and the city have spent so much money on the project before public consultation and prior to council deciding whether to rezone the property. Public consultation, she said, should have come first.
Chipman told the Nelson Star that SHARE Nelson has been following a timeline laid out by the City of Nelson: first apply for rezoning (done) then have a public information meeting (Jan. 11 was the public meeting). The rezoning application will then come to council for discussion followed by a public hearing conducted by the city. Then council would take a final vote on whether or not to rezone the property to allow large-scale housing.
A public hearing is a formal public process in which people who would be affected by a project may speak or submit written material. There is no debate or discussion among councillors or between councillors and the presenters, but council may ask clarifying questions of the public presenters.
If rezoning takes place, then the project will be left with BC Housing for a decision on whether they wish to fund it.
