City-Owned Vacant Land for Affordable Housing

On Wednesday, February 24, City Council will discuss the potential use of city-owned vacant land for affordable housing during its Committee of the Whole (COTW) meeting.

The Decision Note identifies multiple parcels of City owned land:

• 80-90 Empire Avenue
• 22–32 Eric Street
• 231-243 Forest Road
• 245 Freshwater Road (at Terra Nova Road)
• 375 Waterford Bridge Road 

The City’s Housing Division is seeking approval to develop a public engagement plan to inform and engage with residents, businesses, and other stakeholder groups surrounding the identified parcels of land, and to seek funding to complete work on these parcels in advance of planned projects (i.e., environmental assessment, geotechnical analysis).

It is important to note that the public engagement process for the parcel of City land on Eric Street is currently underway: engagestjohns.ca/eric-street.

Further details are available in the COTW agenda. Recommendations made during COTW will then be forwarded to a future City Council meeting for final approval.

Providing a range of affordable housing options is a goal of the City’s Affordable Housing Strategy, a ten-year plan to address our municipality’s housing needs, developed with the vision of working in-step with partners, stakeholders and residents to create and maintain safe, suitable, and affordable housing throughout the city.