Halifax Mayor Says More Development Must Happen To Help Fix Housing Crisis
HALIFAX — Halifax Mayor Mike Savage says residents must accept continued development in the city if the HRM is going to solve its housing crisis.
Savage made remarks on September 29 at a press conference with the city’s assistant chief of emergency management, Erica Fleck, to outline measures they’re taking to address homelessness.
Responding to a question about how the city’s planning approval process might be hindering development, Savage said the HRM is approving more developments than ever.
“We need housing across the board. The whole spectrum of housing, affordable housing and attainable housing is of paramount importance to us,” he said.
He said the city has added new people to its planning department and is approving an “unbelievably high number of developments, thousands more than we ever expected to.”
However, with Halifax growing as fast as it is, Savage said the city needs those thousands of new units. And it will have to keep approving more, and doing it quickly, to keep up.
“People in the community will have to accept, too, that if we’re going to build enough units, both affordable and market, then that’s going to mean that there’s going to be continued development in the city,” Savage said.
“That’s because the city’s growing. Overall, it’s a good thing, but as I’ve said many times, a rising tide does not always raise all boats.”
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Savage was referring to HRM residents who have been sleeping rough in the city’s parks and other public spaces.
Homelessness has been a pressing issue in the city. However, it sprung into the wider public consciousness last month when police forced people from temporary shelters, sparking violent confrontations with protestors.
The events put Halifax’s leaders — many of whom were criticized for their lack of leadership and action in the face of the police’s actions — under intense pressure to find better solutions for HRM residents sleeping rough.
At the press conference, Savage and Fleck outlined the steps the city is taking.
Along with money and land the city recently allocated to build new affordable housing, HRM is also putting together emergency accommodations.
The municipality recently secured 24 modular units that can provide washrooms, laundry, a kitchen area, and sleeping accommodations for 73 people.
Savage said HRM will provide land and set up the emergency accommodations and hopes the province will provide the “wraparound services” to support residents living in the new units.
HRM has also turned the Gray Arena into a temporary emergency shelter which is being operated by Out of the Cold with funding help from the province.
Savage said the municipality’s goal isn’t to criminalize homelessness, but rather work with people who are sleeping rough to find a better solution than city parks, even if that means something that isn’t a traditional shelter.
Fleck said the city won’t change its bylaws to make sleeping in city parks legal and that her goal is to eventually transition anyone in that situation to different accommodations.
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