Residents in Lynnmour agree there’s a need for affordable housing. They just don’t feel it should go in their neighbourhood. That was the general theme one would take from the public hearing held on the matter last week, but it would likely sound much the same in any council chamber in B.C.
For decades, public hearings have been an almost sacred part of the process for residents who want to have a say in how their neighbourhood changes. We understand why they’d want that and agree that there should be public input from neighbours on nearby projects. But we would argue in today’s housing crisis, public hearings on affordable housing projects have become unhelpful, at best, or hurtful at worst.
In the context of housing, public hearings pit the haves against the have-nots, and the have-nots often aren’t even in the room. Public hearings are open to all, but municipalities specifically invite those who already live nearby. If and when residents deem a proposal isn’t in their self-interest, they often pressure council to reject it. Council can then capitulate and exacerbate the housing crisis, or they can vote the project through, leaving the residents feeling like they weren’t listened to.
With rents as high as they are, we cannot treat affordable housing like it is discretionary, subject to the whims of people who do not need it. We cannot set up a system that asks people to behave in their own self-interest and then be surprised that the result does not consider the needs of society.
To make the process so adversarial hurts our sense of community more than it helps it.
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