Motion to turn 2 parking lots into affordable housing struck down: Hamilton council

Hamilton city councillors have voted against a motion that would have seen two parking lots in Stoney Creek transformed into affordable housing projects.

The staff recommendation proposed taking the parking lots found at 5 and 13 Lake Avenue South and turning them into new sites for affordable housing builds.

If passed, the motion would have brought 67 new units to the area.

It was a motion that was initially met with mixed reactions from local residents, who saw both the need for more low-income housing and the loss of parking spaces in a busy area.

Yet a vote by city council today would strike the potential builds from possibility, as a split vote of eight to eight shot the motion down.

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Supporting the motion were councillors Maureen Wilson, Cameron Kroetsch, Nrinder Nann, Tammy Hwang, John Paul Danko, Craig Cassar and Alex Wilson, along with Mayor Andrea Horwath.

Voting against were councillors Matt Francis, Tom Jackson, Esther Pauls, Brad Clark, Jeff Beattie, Mark Tadeson, Mike Spadafora and Ted McMeekin.

It was a contentious time in council chambers, as arguments for and against the transformation were spared back and forth.

Matt Francis serves as the councillor for the area in which the builds would come. He spoke of concerns brought forward by residents over parking in a buzzing core.

According to Francis “the community did not want to lose their parking spots and I stuck with my community and I don’t apologize for that. It was an important thing to do to stand up for my community.”

He says residents also flagged that it would be built on Veteran’s Lane, sparking backlash over bringing a project to an area meant to be upheld for honouring veterans.

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Francis called the conversion “inappropriate”, saying it was “never the intention” of the site.

The area in question was initially zoned for residential use back in the 1980’s, though it has been the site of parking lots raising questions over why it could not be converted to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving housing crisis in the city.

Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson raised an issue with the message the vote sends to higher levels of government as the city continues to look for aid in addressing the housing crisis.

#HamOnt Council unanimously declared a hsg crisis last April. Council also unanimously supported an action plan to take to the fed/prov funding table. Today’s decision to prioritize 57 free parking spaces ahead of 67 new affordable hsg units is a breach of civic leadership./1

— Maureen Wilson (She / Her) (@ward1wilson) February 21, 2024

“Imagine the message that sends to the provincial government and the federal government and our not-for-profit housing partners,” she said to council.

“That the one tool, we don’t have the money, but the one tool we have is assembled land, surplus that’s already been zoned and has been zoned for over 30 years for housing and we maintain it for cars.”

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Mayor Horwath issued a statement in the wake of the decision, saying she was “extremely disappointed” in the choice to “put parking lots before desperately needed affordable housing.”

My statement on Committee’s decision to reject a staff recommendation related to the utilization of city property to build affordable housing. pic.twitter.com/gZHzPAa0qr

— Andrea Horwath (@AndreaHorwath) February 21, 2024

She went on to touch on council’s unanimous agreement that a crisis surrounding housing exists in the city, yet the vote ended in parking taking priority over creating new housing options.

Mayor Horwath says the ability to use her strong Mayor powers to override the vote, saying “I’m hoping that on Wednesday of next week at the council meeting, we’ll have at least one if not several councillors change their mind. If that doesn’t happen, then I will have to make a decision at that point.”

The use of municipal lands is built into the city’s Housing Sustainability and Investment Roadmap and Horwath says council must move to provide housing for those in need as soon as possible.

The final decision on the motion will be solidified in a confirming vote scheduled for the council’s next General Issues Committee meeting next week.