A new agreement between the Town of Saugeen Shores, Habitat for Humanity, and Wilson Developments is paving the way for more affordable housing.
This week, council approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the three organizations.
Mayor Luke Charbonneau said they are finalizing a plan to build townhouse units on town-owned land.
"A 30-unit development on a piece of property located off the 10th Concession in Port Elgin, in close proximity to our grocery stores, daycare, a new school that we're soon going to have built, and the major recreation facilities, including our new Aquatics and Wellness Centre," revealed Charbonneau. "So it's a great location for affordable and low-income housing in our community."
Charbonneau explained Habitat for Humanity would receive up to five units for qualifying applicants, while two would be transferred to the town for affordable housing initiatives.
"And we've got a great partner in Habitat for Humanity," he added. "They really are the gold standard when it comes to affordable ownership and housing geared to affordable ownership, which is what we're trying to do with this particular development."
The MOU outlines each party’s expected role in a future agreement, with the Town of Saugeen Shores providing the land, water and sewer connections, in-kind support and services, and fee reductions, and Wilson Developments constructing the dwellings.
"It's really the first of what we hope will be many projects, similar projects, potentially with different partners, but along the same lines, where we're using our own lands to facilitate the construction of units for folks in that low and even moderate income brackets," said Charbonneau.
Council approved the Affordable Housing on Town-owned Lands Policy last March and this will be the first time the policy will be put into action.
"This opportunity is a result of the Town’s actions to make it easier to build affordable housing," said the Mayor Charbonneau. "Council and staff have been working hard to put the right tools into our toolbox to support initiatives like this."
Beyond this policy, the Town has made strides to reduce barriers to building by amending the Zoning By-law, establishing a framework to allow financial incentives for affordable developments, and continuing to implement other initiatives, like its partnership with Bruce County to deliver the Housing Allowance Subsidy.
"Which is a direct rent subsidy that's going to as many as 40 households in Saugeen Shores," Charbonneau explained. "So in the last couple of years, when you combine the creation of rental units with that housing allowance, we've made 40 housing units in our community that are affordable housing units."
He added that the town has seen 600 higher-density units built in the last few years.
Further Affordable Housing initiatives planned for 2025 can be reviewed in the Planning and Development Division Highlights on page 62 of the 2025 Saugeen Shores Business Plan.