After almost a year of battling with City Council over the proposed Affordable Housing project, The Barriefield Village Association (BVA) has hired Wayne Morgan, an independent heritage planner, to help prepare a proposal that will integrate affordable housing into the community.

“In my experience, it is important for the success of such developments in heritage districts that the community be engaged in its design rather than having it imposed on them” said Wayne. “I look forward to working with the community to provide input to the City in embracing new development that maintains the heritage character of the Village.”

Wayne Morgan is a heritage planner with more than 30 years’ experience in heritage planning in Ontario. He was the Senior Coordinator of Heritage Preservation Services with the City of Toronto, a position which included giving technical advice to City Council and managing the review and approval of proposals involving heritage properties in the city. Before that he was a planner with the City of Toronto, York Region and Hamilton Wentworth.

BVA spokesperson, Doug Morrow said “We are grateful that the City is finally consulting the public on use of the three parcels of land. With Mr. Morgan’s assistance and the City’s willingness to accept our input, I know we can achieve a positive result.”

“We need a plan that is vastly superior to the City’s originally proposed 32-unit affordable housing project that violated the Heritage Conservation District Plan (HCDP) and threatened Barriefield’s heritage integrity” said Doug. “Some members of City Council seem determined to build a major housing project in Barriefield, regardless of cost and heritage implications. The BVA believes wisdom will prevail and a compatible project can be agreed upon.”

“We have cause for optimism.” Doug said. “The schedule is compressed but there is still time to get this right and we will do everything we can to make this happen. Our goal is to prevent any incompatible development of this valuable site. Heritage is fragile. When it is destroyed, it cannot be recaptured.”

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES

August 9
Presentation to Kingston Municipal Heritage Committee
Public Meeting

August 24
Information Report for Council

September 7
Go/No Go decision by Council

INTERESTING FACTS

How Affordable is Affordable Housing?

According to the City, Affordable Housing is classified like this:

House Ownership

A maximum purchase price of roughly $223,385 is affordable (based on 10% below MLS average resale price) since this is less than the affordable price at the 60th income percentile (about $267,000)
A household with a minimum income of $60,900 could afford this price.

Renting A House

The affordable rent at the 60th income percentile for renters is roughly $965/month. This is the maximum gross rent a household would pay unless individual unit market rents are lower:

• Bachelor Apartment: $586/month (income $23,440)
• One Bedroom Apartment: $756/month (income $30,240)
• Two Bedroom Apartment: $909/month (income $36,360)
• Three Bedroom Apartment: $1,135/month (income $45,400)
• A household with a minimum income fo $38,675 could afford rent at $965/