Housing is on everyone's mind in a growing city.
During a regular meeting of Humboldt City Council on March 25, City Manager, James Moller, presented a housing report to Council.
"What I have tried to iterate is the need for the increase supply of rental housing, particularly the affordable rental housing that can be rented by the retail workers of our region," said Moller.
After looking at the housing situation in Humboldt, Moller and his staff noticed there was a great deal of construction of moderate-level homes to buy, but a lack of rental housing and entry-level homes.
After presenting his findings to Council, Moller asked for some input.
Although Council discussed the possibility of funding for rental properties, through provincial and federal grants, they realized that funding was not the biggest problem.
"There are a number of programs but in order to have the programs come into play, you need somebody to be sitting at the table, willing to build," said Eaton.
There are a number of construction sites around the city, but there are no affordable housing options as of yet, Eaton said.
"We have a couple of significant housing projects in the works right now that will bring some options to the housing market," said Eaton. "Some of them are more affordable than others. None are really entry-level housing, like the Habitat project."
Although home ownership is important, Eaton believes that is not practical for everyone in the city.
"The priority for me is the rental one," said Eaton. "Someone has to build an apartment building. We have to figure out how we can get someone to build and add to the apartment rental."
Eaton explained that he was happy to hear a proposal from Darrell Classen to build an apartment building in Humboldt earlier in the meeting.
"He proposes to build an apartment building and have subsidized rent," said Eaton. "His location complicates it because it is in a commercial zone."
He would also like to see more work on secondary suites, like granny suites and basement suites, for renters in Humboldt.
"We are looking to develop programs that would support rental apartments and rental housing, that would include secondary suites," said Eaton.
There have been some developments in building apartment buildings in the city, like a 55-plus apartment building by Bridgeroad, but there have been few people ask about secondary suites. Eaton would like to see more people putting secondary suites into their homes.
He also believes programs like Head Start on a Home are important.
"What this program does is someone of moderate income will qualify if we invest," said Eaton. "I would like to see something like that in place."
Council directed Moller to continue to explore the development of entry level housing for purchase and rent in Humboldt.
