The former Kiwanis House property in Elmira is now earmarked for an affordable-housing project, with the township turning the space over to a charitable organization planning to build 24 back-to-back townhouses.
Elmira-based Beyond Housing (formerly MennoHomes) submitted the sole proposal for the site, which Woolwich last year declared as surplus in order to develop affordable housing, director of development services Deanne Friess said.
Under a plan approved this week by council, Beyond Homes will build the two-bedroom units, renting three quarters of them at rates below 80 per cent of the mid-market rent, meaning more of the units will be deemed affordable than the township’s target of 50 per cent.
Rents will range from $550 to $900 per month.
The property will be sold to the non-profit group for about $30,000, offsetting the township’s costs for legal, surveying and completion of the ‘record of site.’
Councillors meeting Tuesday night approved the necessary zoning changes to permit multi-residential use of the property at 28 South St. W. The development there will require some noise mitigation at the neighbouring Woolwich Memorial Centre and Lions Hall, principally related to heating and cooling units. That would reduce noise reaching the property to an acceptable level for residential development.
The site’s long been home to a non-unoccupied single-detached dwelling that served as the Kiwanis House, an accessory shed, a community garden and approximately half of an existing parking lot (28 spaces) adjacent to the Lion’s Hall building.
The township also approved a reduction in the number of parking spots, to one per unit instead of the 1.25 or 1.5 that would normally be considered.
The loss of some parking spots used for Lions Hall or the WMC will be adjusted on the west side of the hall.
The agreement with Beyond Housing runs for 30 years.
