Along with considering rezoning in Peaks of Grassi on Tuesday night (Jan. 19), Canmore council was also briefed on an option agreement to purchase a parcel of the lands by Canmore Community Housing Corporation from the developer.
Along with considering rezoning in Peaks of Grassi on Tuesday night (Jan. 19), Canmore council was also briefed on an option agreement to purchase a parcel of the lands by Canmore Community Housing Corporation from the developer.
It sparked at least one member of the public to question the legality of having one agenda item presuppose the approval of another.
Development planner Patrick Sorfleet briefed council on the purchase agreement, and indicated that should the Peaks rezoning not be approved the agreement would be terminated as a result.
The purchase agreement provides CCHC with certainty that a parcel of land of the three up for development would be used for perpetually affordable housing units and market affordable housing units.
Sorfleet said the effort to get an agreement in place was the result of concerns expressed by council at the public hearing there is no mechanism to require the developer to provide those affordable housing units.
“The purpose is to create a binding agreement between Canmore Community Housing Corporation and the developer,” he said. “We cannot do it through zoning and CCHC is the best candidate to enter into this agreement.
“The agreement has several conditions that are pertinent to council.”
The agreement commits CCHC to purchase seven PAH units and if they are not under construction by the developer by the end of 2016, then CCHC can execute an option to acquire the site for $10.
It also requires CCHC to provide the down payment for those PAH units up front and to purchase the seven units for up to $2.6 million. CCHC's board approved it last week.
It was noted by Councillor Joanna McCallum, who sits on CCHC, that this is the first agreement of its kind and the entire process is unchartered territory for CCHC.
McCallum said CCHC is the mechanism through which the units are purchased as PAH, and this is the first time it has agreed to provide the downpayment up front to the developer.
“The last three units we sold were through Distinctive Homes and within the first two months, before they were even cribbed, they were presold,” she added.
Mayor John Borrowman reiterated to the packed audience that having an agreement between the two parties did not bind council to make a certain decision on the rezoning of the property.
As for the timing, Borrowman said because this is the first time council has gone through rezoning that includes an offer of PAH, there was concern over the lack of legal mechanism to bind the developer to providing those units once the bylaw was approved.
“There was a concern that if the application were to be approved there would be no certainty the PAH units would come around,” he said. “There was a comment that led to administration to do work to create this option to purchase.”
