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~ FERRACE
Bo forecasting the city’s. near non-
. existent vacancy. rate for rental
oy _ accomodation is not going to
: : improve in a hurry, the Cana-
.. , dian “Housing and: Mortgage
a Corporation’ s regional manager
~. says. building new apartment

While

blocks is not necessarily the best

+ + sOhition.

“Emphasizing a low vacancy

Fate! ‘did not automatically

~ reflect.‘a need: for apartments,

moe George

2) developers would be well-

-" advised to first carry out some
on extensive, market research.

Fessenden said

 Such-‘surveys would give a

“.c picture “of the total housing
stock” available,

“jn What and why,” the

2 type of “accommedation people

were tooking for and what they
could ‘afford io pay.

establish ~

“ Given the cost of constructing * be

SUMMIT SQUARE is ane of several 1 apartment blocks already dotted around the city. Although
developers have recently tried to get similar projects started here,, there are those who wonder
whether they might be better off looking at other Ideas.

HS "apartment. buildings today,
Soe “You ré talking - $700-800 a

“rents,'' Fessenden

. Mattel out. “Can the market

‘hose: figures were markedly

a ‘higher. than the average rents
By found’ i in CHMC's iatest survey

" Of accommodation here, sug-

Us gesting local rent levels could
‘not support the cost of new
: apartment development.

“There was also a danger that

‘ifereasing the stack of such ac-

commodation too much would
simply have the effect of driving
rents even lower, he added.

. Although the average age of
Terrace’s population — 27-28
years:— makes. it one of the

-” youngest. communities in the
~. north, Fessenden noted the 1986

census showed a slight but
definite population shift to the
45-64 age bracket.

_ He anticipated this year’s

head-count would show that
trend continuing, “The ‘com-

munity is beginning to mature,”

he added,

Therefore, developers ‘might
be setter advised to look at pro-
viding new housing choices for
couples in that age bracket:

“Smpty nesters’? “— couples
whose children have Jeft home
— may not want to continue liv-
ing in the traditional ‘single
family dwelling, he said, prefer-
ring instead.a low maintenance
condo-unit.

“There may be some oppor-
tunities for, very, very well plan-
ned housing specifically target-
ting. that. group,’' Fessenden
suggested, adding, ‘‘You're
basically . talking a monied

group.” ; :

However, as with any
development plan, “everything
fas to be’ well-researched,”? - che
emphasized. And even “if

_ Tesearch ‘confirmed there was a

demand for that: type ' of
development, “Fessenden: ‘said
‘developers should proceed with
caution.

Suggesting demand might not
be as strong as some thought, he
recommended only small scale
developments initially. ‘‘No
community can really afford to
suffer a failure," he said,
because that would only. scare
off developers,

Given such condo- style
developments would be sold
rather than rented, how would

that help the rental situation
here? Fessenden explained their
appearance on the market could
set off a “chain reaction which

wouid ultimately ease the tight

vacancy rate.

As emply-nesters took up
these new unils, their original
homes would likely be taken up

—2y apartment dwellers who had

wanted to buy but couldn’t find
a suitable place. That, in turn
would free up rental accom-
modation. .

It would alse help achieve
what he saw as the community's
desire to persuade those in the
45-64 age group to remain here.
**It seems to me that’s where the
opportunties lie,” he conclud-
ed.

Recent votes not anti- development

Jack Talstra

o Bs "TERRACE — Government
. money. is available to back ‘af-

“fordable housing projects in the

“community, bul there won't be

any coming to Terrace this year.

Set ‘That, says a B.C. Housing

Management cammission

7 spokesman, is because no quali- -

age fying group.applied for money

under ‘its Social Housing: Non-.,
‘Profit program,

“Director of development ser-
vices Richard Staehli said the ..
commission had invited pro-
posals' in January but had only -
received one from Terrace, for

the supportive housing develop-

ment “‘which doesn’t really fit

TERRACE — Recent rejections of rezoning ap-
plications that would have allowed two apartment
block projects to go ahead do not mean the city is
anti-development, says the mayor.

Instead, Jack Talstra suggested, it’s a sign, the.
community | has’ matured’ and is therefore. paying i
greater aitention ‘to the typeof development it

wants to see.

“It’s a little bit different chan it used to be,”
Talstra said, noting Terrace was no longer the
“frontier town” it was in the ’50s and ’6(s.

Now, he said, there was a greater emphasis on
the visual aspects of new developments such as
the appeearance of the building and landscaping.

“Maybe we're looking for a little bit different
concept (from the traditional apartment, block)
that would fit the neighbourhood, the community
and be something everybody could live with, ** he

explained.

Talstra said the approach adopted by some

here’ and they put less emphasis on what the
development might look like 20 years from now.
The alternative approach was to look to the

long-term, “to go a little bit slower and think it

through. so, people. will stillrbe
2010, “he Bdded.,:,.. , feat
“It ‘depends where you're coming fiom.”” |

‘Pleased peith.us in in

14 43 pepb riya:

‘Part‘of the problem, Talstra said, was the pro-

to applications.

out.

vincial government had discontinued the previous
‘develdpment permit system which allowed the ci-
ty to attach stringent site planning requirements

As a result, developers now only had to follow
the basic zoning regulations ‘‘so there are some
fears from aldermen on that count,”” he pointed

Talstra also said he did not believe the recent
decisions would have a severe, negative effect on

thecity. ‘The future for Terrace is still very, very

aldermen was “‘we’ve got to get some housing in

Affordable housing money
‘not being taken up here

Staehli said the social housing
program is intended to provide
rental accommodation for low
income individuals or families.
come brackets. Administered by

the commission for the federal
and provincial governments, the.,..§
program has been responsible peo
for construction of approx-
‘imately 1800 units a year since :
“units. ;
Whether a renter ‘qualifies or’

1985,

-To. qualify, he explained: “ai
proposal must have been’ sub. -
mitted’ by a non-profit society.

and prove there is need for that

type of development in the com. ,
munity,

The applicant must also p pro- :
duce a list of potential, qualify- .

ing renters ‘four times greater
than the number of units it

 plarined to build.

Although that requirement
was often queried, Staehli said

“past experience had repeatedly

shown that only one of four
ple from the original list

would actually accept the offer

to. move in to. the completed

hot.is tied to their income level.
Those occupying: a one-
bedroom: unit could not have
gross annual earnings of more
than. $19,500, For two-

‘bedrooms it was $21,000, for

three $23,000 and for four or
more $26,500,

THEM MUKS- KUM- “Ol, Housing society has eben putting federal money to good use providing housing
_ for local natives. Similar projects designed to provide good, affordable accommodation could be
started hi here through a program. administered by the B.C, ‘Housing Management commission.

“come. |

bright,” he forecast.

The society also had to comp-
ly ‘with a per-unit construction
cost maximum, meaning the
design of the buildings should
be ‘‘modest’’, and convince the
commission the society would
be capable of continuing to
operate, and manage the
development for at least 35
years. He explained that was the
minimum period for operating
agreements entered into by the
commission.

If it met all the criteria, it
then went up against all the
other applications from across
the province. Noting the com-
mission receives five applica-
tions for every one it approves,
Staehli added. ‘‘The competi-
tion is quite fierce.’

If one of the lucky ones, the
society signs an operating agree-
ment with the commission
under which the latter covers
the operating deficit of the
housing development.

He said the deficit was defin-
ed as the difference between 30
per cent of the total rents and
the operating cost which includ-
ed payments on thé principal
and interest on a 100 per cent
mortgage and basic
maintenance, .--

The commission then. bills the
federal government : for -two-
thirds of that. deficit: and: the
province for the remainder. ©:

mn

Stachli said it was also posal-
ble for individuals to’ apply to
the commission for assistance:if -
the amount-.of. rent. they~ paid
was more than 30 petcent ofin- -

_Tomace Standard, Wednesday, JUNE 12, 1991 —

~ Pa AS

LETTERS _

-T0.THE TERRACE STANDARD

Dear Sir:

I was angered when I read
in. The Terrace Standard
(May 8, 1991) of a man who
was acquitted of rape on the
grounds that the victim was
unable: to communicate to
him that she did not want to
have sex. .

The judge based his deci-
sion on the fact that the
woman failed to show her
communicative skills in
court. How ludricrous! The
difficulty of verbalizing in a
public court would naturally
contrast sharply with the ease
of communicating “stop” to
an attacker, ; .

She testified that she had
been dragged into a room
and had her mouth covered
to keep her quiet. She also
said that she was crying,
making loud noises, and at-
tempting to fight back.

This particular judge said
that he believed her when she
said she did not give her con-
sent. He believes her, and he
wasn’t even there. Yet he
assumes her assailant receiv-
ed no such indication, Why
then was his hand over her
mouth?

The contention of “the
defense was that because she
was mute, she was unable to
convey the fact that she did
not want to have sex. Well,
one picture is worth a thou-
sand words. The human race
has been conveying ‘‘stop’’
for many years without the
use of vocal cords.

If a policeman raises his
hand ahead of me. on the
street, may f continue to
drive pasi him until I clearly
hear the word ‘‘stop’’?

Perhaps all women who

_ City dotted by.

“

Dear Sir:

Is Terrace fast becoming a
bare desert town? Is there
anything more beautiful than
lots of greenery? People
from California love to visit
our area because of it. Not so
in the distorted minds of
some of our citizens,

Tree cutting has become
just another miserable habit.
Most of these beautiful trees
with historic value surroun-
ding our Heritage Park are
gone. The set of nice birch
trees in front of the Credit
Union are gone,

Ar interesting piece of
shady bush behind the
Evangelical Free Church is
mercilessly cut down. The
Alliance Church on Agar
found it neccesary to level all

An acquittal
_draws protest

are mute or who. do not
speak English should have
cards printed that read, ‘‘I
do not wish to have sex,

Thank you very much.”

Then. of course, there would
have to be witnesses to testify
that. ehe cards were actually

_Teceived, and rapists who

were illiterate could naturally
not be held accountable for
their actions,

If a policeman. raises
his hand ahead of me on
the street, may | con-
tinue.to drive past him
until | clearly hear. the
word “stop”? —

Let’s hope that this learn-
ed genileman’s decision does
Not set a precedent or we may
be hearing more thought pro-
voking statements from
judges in the future, such as,
“Yes, 1 do believe that the
accused held up the 7-11
Store, but because the clerk
did not indicate clearly that
he did not wish to be robbed,
no crime has been commit-
ted. If only the clerk had
been able to pull the gag
from his mouth before the
till was opened....’”

Rape is not a crime of pas-
sion against women, it is a
crime of violence against
humanity. We cannot set
down different guidelines for
each type of violence com-
mitted. Why must the victim
of one type of crime meet
different criterion than the
victim of another?

Norman McMurray
Terrace, B.C.

Prey

bare landscape

its beautiful trees, which
gave the church building an
air of class.

If one drives over Walsh
one will see stumps
everywhere. People say,
these trees were sick. All I
can say is, these tree cutters

’ are sick in their heads!

If this goes on and on, we
might as well move to the
moon. No trees. will bother
people there. Maybe I should
start worshipping God in my
own green backyard.

Who wants to go to a
church surrounded by
miserable stumps, a reminder
of what once ‘was so
beautiful? J call it murder.

Bill Homburg,
Terrace, B.C,

Body building’s
finer points

Dear Sir:

In regard to body building
and steroid use and to Terry
Monrures comments in ‘‘Do-
ing it drug free,” (May
22, 1991).

First off, I don’t know
where Terry got his informa-
tion from as I've never seen it
ever printed that only one per
cent can do it drug free.

So, unless Terry knows

~ every national champion I

would say one per cent would

be a total stab in the dark.
It is articles like these that

ruin the sport of

bodybuilding.

'~ Bodybuilding is probably

the most stringent drug-

tested sport around. At the
Mr. Olympia, the most
prestigious professional
bodybuilding event there is,
only five out of 20 com-
petitors tested positive for
steroids. That hardly works
out to one per cent.

Most amateur contests and
a lot of professional contests
are drug tested in the Inter-
national Federation of
Bodybuilding which sets it
ahead of any other sport that
I know of as far as drug
testing is concerned.

If Terry himself does not
use steroids, I don't know
how he would know there are

cont'd A6

Dear Looking

Dear Looking and
Frustrated: .
We received your letter last

Friday about the lack. of ren-
tal accommodation in the ci-
ty and how that. relates to
yourself. 4.

But we can’t print your let-
ter because you signed it
“Looking and Frustrated’.

All letters must be signed by
the writer.

If you -wish your letter -
printed: in our next issue,
please ‘call. or write, Our -

-phone number is 638-7283,

The: address is 4647. Lazelle: :

Aves" wet
Rod Link,
; Bier =

Mad sy

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