** Please note that, unless otherwise noted, any views expressed in this report are those of the consultants and not necessarily those of the sponsoring agencies.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Study Findings

Trends

• The population of Greater Williams Lake is projected to increase by 14.2 percent over the next 10 years and 23.9 percent over the next 25 years. The number of households (each needing its own residence) will increase even more: by 25.2 percent over the next 10 years and by 44.7 percent over the next 25 years. The characteristics of households will change. They will be smaller and more of them will consist of single parent families, middle-aged adults without children at home, and seniors.
• In the 1990s, the real incomes of many households have been declining, stagnating or increasing very slowly. There is little reason for hope that these trends will reverse in the foreseeable future.
• At the same time, Williams Lake housing prices have been rising steeply, primarily due to rising land prices. In addition, there has been a rental housing shortage. As a result, housing that is both suitable and affordable has been getting beyond the reach of increasing numbers of households.

Implications

• The population, income and housing trends have profound implications for what will be needed in the way of new housing. There will be more need for apartments, row houses, manufactured homes, smaller houses on small lots and housing designed especially for seniors. In addition, there will be more need for non-traditional housing, such as small "granny houses" sharing lots with larger single family detached houses and "flex homes" that can be adapted to the changing needs of owners and tenants.

Responses

• In the 1990s, the Williams Lake housing market has been responding to changing needs by supplying types of housing (e.g., row houses and manufactured homes) that are more affordable, both because they use less land and because they cost less to build.
• Currently, the Social Planning Advisory Network and City are responding by spearheading efforts (through the Williams Lake Housing Committee) to understand the housing situation in Greater Williams Lake, to identify opportunities for improving the situation, and to take appropriate action.
• Meanwhile, the federal government has withdrawn from its long-standing commitment to non-profit housing and the provincial government's commitment has been insufficient.

Needs

• The Williams Lake Housing Committee has identified immediate need for a substantial number of units of non-profit housing for students, Urban Natives, people with mental challenges, lone parent families, and seniors. In the longer term, the most pressing need will be for seniors housing of all types, including housing for independent living and housing for seniors needing various levels of care.
• The current City of Williams Lake Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw and a recently approved Neighborhood Plan indicate that, until recently, there has been a re-active rather than pro-active response to emerging population, income and housing realities. Information arising from this study points to a need for new policies that address the emerging realities.

Residents' concerns

• Most of the residents of Williams Lake are well aware of the emerging population, income and housing realities. Many see their own needs and preferences changing and are not just ready to accept but ready to encourage change. Most, however, have legitimate concerns about protecting their own homes and neighbourhoods from harm.
• Residents' responses to the study questionnaire indicate that homes and neighbourhoods are so connected that they cannot speak about the qualities of one without speaking about the qualities of the other. They have many concerns about both and they would like to see these concerns addressed by their local governments.

Other factors

Other factors to be considered in making housing choices for the future include:

• The prosperity of Williams Lake depends on what it does to ensure that it has a stock of good quality, affordable housing since the availability of such housing is one of the most important considerations in the decisions of businesses and industries to choose a particular location.
• The retirement industry is a major and growing industry in North America, an industry that could be attracted to Williams Lake. It tends to concentrate in communities that offer a variety of good quality housing options and much in way of community attractiveness and amenity.

The "new urbanism" approach

• Good home, neighbourhood and community design is essential for any community that aspires to be the best it can be. If Williams Lake wishes to create and achieve a new vision for its future, it would do well to learn more about "the new urbanism" and to consider incorporating some of its concepts into the vision. The new urbanism is largely a rediscovery of the better design ideas from older cities, including convenient and attractive pedestrian ways so people are encouraged to walk, and a higher density of development with a greater variety of housing types mixed together in the same neighbourhoods.
• The more compact development encouraged by the new urbanism helps to conserve land and energy.
• It also makes good sense from a municipal finance point of view, since lower density development (in the form of subdivisions with standard or large lots occupied by standard or large single family detached houses) is extremely expensive for a municipality to service and does not pay for itself in property taxes.

Opportunities for the future

• There are excellent opportunities for SPAN, the City and the Regional District to work together and form partnerships with others in efforts to ensure that the people of Williams Lake have the homes and neighbourhoods they need and prefer in the years ahead. The following summary of recommendations points to some of these opportunities.

Recommendations

1. That SPAN, the City and the Cariboo Regional District join in efforts to establish a housing society.
2. That, pending establishment of the housing society, SPAN and the City and Regional District support the Williams Lake Housing Committee in its efforts to proceed with a housing project suited to low income households. These households will include lone parents and couples with children, couples without children and unattached singles, with special regard for households with students attending University College of the Cariboo.
3. That SPAN, the City and the Regional District join in efforts to establish an affordable residential land trust.
4. That SPAN, the City and the Regional District make a joint submission to the B.C. Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and CMHC asking them to organize and offering to host a conference on federal and provincial housing policies and programs as they apply to mid-sized and smaller B.C. communities.
5. That the City of Williams Lake adopt and implement a strategy for becoming a model twenty-first century community, one that meets the housing and neighbourhood needs and preferences of all of its citizens and takes optimum advantage of new information and ideas about how to design good homes and neighbourhoods.
6. That, as part of the above, the City review the Westside Neighbourhood Plan with a view to revising it.
7. That the Cariboo Regional District co-operate in the above efforts, in recognition of the fact that people living in areas surrounding the City but outside of its official boundaries are part of the community generally known as Williams Lake.
8. That, as interim measures, the City and Regional District develop statements of housing policy. (An example is provided in the expanded description of this recommendation in Part Seven.)
9. That the City establish an Illegal Suites Task Force and invite the B.C. Ministry of Housing, SPAN and its member agencies (including First Nations and the Cariboo Friendship Society) to join in reviewing the conditions of illegal suites and identifying appropriate ways of improving those conditions, while attempting to ensure no loss in the City's severely limited stock of affordable housing units.
10. That the City and the Regional District propose to the Manufactured Homes Association of B.C. that the Association sponsor a study and demonstration project

a) to identify concerns about the designs of manufactured homes and manufactured home parks, and
b) to identify and demonstrate design solutions

and that, as part of their proposal, the City and Regional District offer assistance in finding a potential site in the Williams Lake area suitable for a model manufactured home development to demonstrate the design solutions