More space approved for bigger supportive housing proposal in Sarnia

A supportive housing project eyed for a downtown Sarnia parking lot has grown, and may make use of the whole lot.

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But not without some space for parking for downtown businesses, city council said this week, and not without council getting final say on the project.

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In a 6-2 vote, — councilors Terry Burrell and Bill Dennis were opposed; Coun. Dave Boushy was absent — council voted, conditionally, to let the County of Lambton use the entire 4,800-square-meter Victoria Street lot for a now-267 unit, estimated $76-million, two-building proposal, including supportive housing.

“There is potential for surface parking on the site to be designated for use by bosses of area businesses, as the need for tenant parking may be relatively low, depending on program models and tenant demographics,” has been postponed by real estate company Flourish says.

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Council agreed last July to let the county use at least part of the lot for supportive housing, and gave time for city and county staffers to hammer out the optimal ratio.

At the time, a 45-unit build was being considered.

“The county came back and they said ‘We could use the whole thing if that’s OK with you, council,’” city clerk Amy Burkhart said before Monday’s vote to formally declare the lot surplus and donate it for the project.

Caveats baked in include it must be for affordable housing — supportive housing is affordable housing with supports on site — that public parking be included in the proposal, that city council gets to sign off on the design, and that there be progress within a year.

It’s taken too long already, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said.

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“There’s a lot of discussion, a lot of goodwill out there … but we’re not actually seeing the progress we need,” he said.

“I just assumed last year when we offered the parking lot in August there would be a quick turnaround and come back to us.”

Maintaining enough parking there is doable, he said, given the lot is already underused.

“You’re lucky to see it at 30 to 40 per cent capacity,” Bradley said.

“But it still is needed” and used by local businesses, he said.

Bradley noted he has concerns about the 12-storey proposal being too large for the site, based on the feedback he’s heard.

“It should be scaled down,” he said.

Burrell said parking downtown is often a major concern.

“Taking a parking lot or a substantial portion of it out of the mix just doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said.

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Dennis talked about the project’s potential to “create a ghetto” downtown and said donating the parking lot doesn’t prioritize helping downtown businesses.

“If it is surplus, then let’s put it on the open market and make $2 million our city desperately needs,” he said.

Coun. Chrissy McRoberts suggested maintaining the parking lot “footprint,” to help with the parking issue.

“So, keeping the parking lot minus the pillars of structure could still sustain the parking that we need and still build the housing,” she said.

County council recently voted to move ahead with design, engineering and construction of an estimated $16.5-million project with as many as 50 affordable apartments on county land on Kathleen Avenue in Sarnia.

It and the Victoria Street lot are two of five affordable and supportive housing sites identified in a plan county council endorsed in February.

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