At its February 24 meeting, Huntsville council agreed to transfer ownership of 24 Chaffey Township Road to the District Municipality of Muskoka (DMM) for an affordable housing initiative.
The resolution passed by council specifies that the District has 12 months to commence the project. If it does not, it must either seek an extension or return the property to the Town at no cost to the municipality.
A report from Huntsville municipal staff states that the District applied for a grant in mid-December for funding to create six transitional housing units for those experiencing homelessness.
“If the grant is not successful, the DMM still wishes to pursue other options for the development of the lands for affordable housing,” adds the report.
The property is 0.3 acres and is serviced by water and sewer infrastructure. The District has expressed interest in acquiring it in the past, but councillors noted that they would only be amenable to giving it up if it were used for affordable housing in the community.
According to the staff report, it is anticipated that the lands would merge in title with the existing District-owned lands to the south. The lands to the north and east are vacant.
You can find the staff report HERE.
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Affordable housing here should be easy to fund. Graydon Smith has always been good at getting provincial money for Muskoka. If Graydon doesn’t win and Matt Richter does it will be a perfect chance for Matt to put money where his promise (mouth) is.