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Delta council candidate Mike Smith calls for better housing strategy

Smith says innovation and will to act needed to find affordable solutions for seniors, young adults
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Delta council candidate Mike Smith. (Photo submitted)

Delta council candidate Mike Smith is saying it’s time for city hall to work better, not harder, to help make housing more affordable for residents — especially for seniors and young people.

When it comes to seniors, Smith said there needs to be more innovative thinking on council and a different approach to looking at housing options.

“Outside-the-box thinking hasn’t been part of city hall’s mandate,” Smith said in a press release. “Paterson Park is a great example where part of that can be used for seniors’ aging-in-place care, including a seniors’ dementia village that was recommended by a working group years ago.

“Why should our elderly be forced to move outside our community?”

RELATED: COLUMN: Paterson Park’s time has come

For young adults looking to stay in Delta, there’s no need for the city to “re-invent the wheel,” Smith said, just the resolution to get things done.

In his press release, Smith said future councils could work on implementing recommendations in a housing task force report from a decade ago.

“The market may have changedbut the recommendations are still mostly good ones,” he said. “Having the political will to follow through on those and follow through on ideas already being used elsewhere is all that’s needed.”

Smith pointed to developments on 72nd Avenue and Scott Road that he said will create traffic problems in those neighbours. He also said similar things about a townhouse proposal on Tsawwassen’s 8A Avenue, which he said is “completely out of whack with the rest of the community.”

“These are the kind of one-offs that are damaging neighbourhood livability and setting the precedent for developers to get away with even more because the city has no plan,” he said in the release.

The goal, Smith said, is more density, but well-planned and spread out. He also said there needs to be more consultation before applications are even submitted.

The civic election will take place on Oct. 20, with advance voting on Oct. 10 and 11.

SEE ALSO: 43 candidates running in Delta civic election



editor@northdeltareporter.com

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