GROUP FORMED

TO LOOK AFTER

SHELTER FOR SENIORS —

Taking some of the best ideas from already
existing seniors’ housing and using available
research means that building additional units for
seniors in Terrace may not be that difficult for a
newly-formed committee. The city’s Seniors Advisory
Commission has identified affordable housing as a
need in Terrace, and a public meeting was held Feb.
20 to spearhead community action.

Commission member Aileen Frank noted the

NEW HOUSING CO-OP
SEEKS LAND FROM CITY

Terrace city council has sent a request from
a group that wants enough city-owned land to
house a 40 unit family housing unit to their
Planning and Public Works Committee for
consideration. The request comes from the
Skeena Valley Co-op Housing Society, who have
proposed the construction of a family oriented,
non-profit housing project to meet the needs of
families currently living in inadequate or
unaffordable housing.

Society representative Lynda Bretfeld told
city aldermen that housing for single parents is
a particular concern in Terrace, and that rents in
the housing project would be set at a maximum
of 30% of the renter’s household income.

The association has named two locations
within the city they feel would be appropriate.
The first is located behind the court house,
adjacent to the Willows Apartments. And the
second is at the corner of Haugland and
Evergreen St.

Bretfeld says the association has applied for
financial assistance from a provincial housing
allocation of 120 units. If the project goes, she
added, it would be completed at no cost to the
city. She made it clear that the association is
seeking a 60-year lease on city-owned property,
not a land grant, and the land would revert to
the city at the end of the lease.

phe,

waiting lists at both Tuck and the Willows apart-
ments, and said that with people working in Terrace
already going to Kitimat to live and the recent
conversion of Summit Square apartments into
condos, the rental situation "is going to be drastic’.
Creating additional rental units for seniors could
help alleviate the family housing crunch.
Dave Dennis, commission member and continu-
ing care manager at Skeena Health Unit, informed
the meeting that surveys have been completed
locally, research has been done, and what is needed
now is a core group of community members to "pull
it together and take it the next step’. a
With government funding available for both the
planning and building stages, the committee could
receive support in the next step of creating a housing
proposal that incorporates some of the best features
of existing options: central location, level entrances,
sizeable units at an affordable price. oe
The committee will need to present data to
justify the need for additional units. The formula
used to determine the number of apartments to be
built is to divide the number of potential residents by
four: to get 25 units, the committee will need to
identify 100 seniors in need of housing. Commission
member Cherie Kamenz, who wrote her Masters’
thesis on seniors’ housing, explained that seniors
paying 30 percent of their income for unsuitable
housing, or having to pay over 30 percent of their
income to get suitable housing, would be considered

- potential residents.

The committee will need to balance preferences
and price; for example, to find land at a central
location at a reasonable price, and to find a large
enough parcel so that units needn't be stacked up or
sized down. The committee: will also have to work
quickly if Terrace wants a proposal to be considered
this year: the deadline is early April. Finally, the
committee needs more members, with their ideas and
experience, to make it all work. Those interested are
asked to call Dave Dennis at 638-3467, or Cherie
Kamenz at the Terrace Community Volunteer
Bureau and Seniors’ Information Access, 638-1930.

—Charlynn Toews with information from Cherie
Kamenz’s UBC thesis, “Housing Options for Seniors
in Terrace”

Terrace Review — February 28, 1992 18