Development charges waived for affordable housing project in Old East Village

A city committee has voted to waive more than $3 million in development charges for a planned 24-storey tower slated to bring scores of affordable housing units to London's Old East Village.

City council's Infrastructure and Corporate Services Committee voted unanimously Monday to grant a full exemption to the developer on development charges (DCs) for all 213 units.

Staff originally recommended that only the project's 75 units set to be offered at below-market value be exempt from the charges, based on provincial rules.

A staff report said that under provincial rules, housing units are only exempt from DC's if they're offered at below market value and if the organization backing the project has a primary focus on housing.

The Cross Cultural Learners Centre (CCLC), the non-profit backing the project, filed a challenge against that staff ruling. The CCLC argued that the city's interpretation of the rules was too narrow, and that housing is central to both CCLC's operations and to the project, called Doorways to Dreams.

The CCLC made its case to the committee in a special tribunal held Monday.

Lawyer Laura McFalls of the law firm Siskinds represented CCLC. She argued that housing is central to the operation of the organization, which provides settlement services to newcomers to Canada, many of them refugees.

“One of the most important purposes of CCLC is housing," said McFalls. “Without housing, the rest of the services don’t pack the same punch. Without housing, many of the people won't even look at the other services.”

A motion by Coun. Susan Stevenson to waive the DCs was passed unanimously by the committee.

Mayor Josh Morgan said CCLC made its case and that the entire project deserved the DC exemptions.

"The complexity and thorough details that were given as part of this tribunal made a very clear and strong case that the primary object of the organization really is housing," he said. "I think the provincial legislation could be cleaned up because the intent is to support waivers for affordable housing projects."

In an interview on CBC's London Morning on Monday backers of the project argued that having to pay DCCs could delay, or even derail, a multi-million project that has been almost six years in the making.

The project located on Dundas Street East between Rectory and Hewitt streets is slated to begin construction this year, with tenants moving into the 24-storey tower by 2028.