Letter to the editor

I am writing with respect to the proposed OCP and Zoning Bylaw Amendment 1661 and 1662 in the District of Invermere.

First I will note my support for the Columbia Valley and Metis Nation British Columbia leaders and members whose grace and patience persisted while answering questions on issues already resolved in the revised development proposal with regard to building management, parking and access at the public meeting on Thursday, Sept. 5. 

All the studies needed are done. The MNBC has done their level best to listen to the concerns raised and respond to them. We could not ask for better neighbours.

This proposed development will not  be able to meet the needs of all the people in this community who lack affordable housing.

It will not solve the problem for my new staff member who was not able to find affordable housing when she arrived for her job in June and had to camp for two and a half months. 

She now only has temporary accommodation for the winter for which she pays almost half her take-home wages. 

She is not alone; this is the case for many of the people in our community who, like her, are required to move out of their rental units to accommodate their landlords who want their properties available in the summer for family, or more commonly to rent out as an AirBnB.

It doesn’t solve the problem of there being 180 units absent from the rental market because landlords would rather gouge short-term visitors and make a little money than help stabilize this community by offering affordable places for people to live.

What this proposed development does offer is 41 rental units to people who live in this community who need affordable housing. An accessible place in the midst of our community where people can go to school, to work, get groceries and health care – all the services those of us more privileged take for granted. 

We require proximity to services that people who need affordable housing can access independently. How can we as a community not want to support this?

In exchange for the extra minimal congestion that the impact studies have revealed, our community will get the opportunity to embrace new neighbours, make new friends, strengthen the social fabric of our community and accept a much needed modernization of our land use. We all win. But we all stand to lose a lot more if we don’t support this development.

Yolande Dolman, Invermere