A public hearing was held on Tuesday night in Central Saanich adevelopment proposed for the former Marigold Nursery lands.
The plan is to build more than 200 housing units on the former nursery site, which closed in 2015. The developer has a combination of mixed housing over the eight acre property that will include townhouses, condos, and apartments. Ten of them will be below market pricing.
Those in attendance were mostly positive for the estimated $80 million project but Saanich/Gulf Islands M.L.A. Gary Holman said the development didn’t’ do enough to address affordable housing.
“I was one of the proponents of the Saanich affordable housing needs assessment and that assessment indicated that there were more than 100 families paying more than 50 percent of their income on rent,” Holman said. “This is an opportunity and we shouldn’t give it up.”
The developers suggested that it’s a little late in the game to talk more affordable housing.
The proposal has been through a number of readings at Central Saanich council and needs just a final reading for adoption. If passed, the first phase of the development is expected to start in the spring.