Land for Perth affordable housing project transferred

The town council of Perth gave final approval to the transfer of town-owned land for an affordable housing project in June.

One day in November, the Rev. Canon Ken Davis of St. James the Apostle picked up the phone and called the town’s mayor and deputy mayor.  Could they please look into the matter of why, five months later, the land had not been transferred? Without the land in the ownership of Carebridge Community Support, the project could not move forward.

“Magically, it got looked into,” Davis says. “I have no doubt that we would not have it now had I not called.”

Four years ago, St. James organized and continues to lead Community Housing Initiative Perth (CHIP) in the development of 15 units of affordable housing, the first in Perth in 30 years, on the land. Finally in November, the land was transferred to Carebridge Community Support as owner and future operator of the housing. Carebridge already operates 221 units in Lanark County, including the 34 units in the Smiths Falls project that St John the Evangelist supported.

The Anglican Church in Perth has been the greatest supporter of the project along with Carebridge and the Saumure Group, the Smiths Falls-based developer of residential and commercial properties in the Ottawa Valley.

Having worked on various iterations of a site plan for at least six months, Saumure is now well placed to expedite the next step –  completing the plan for approval by the municipality.

For its part the CHIP team is preparing for a $300,000 fundraising campaign and promised consultations with neighbours of the Halton Street site.  A website providing details of the project and a link for donations is available: (https://perthhousing.ca ) St. James is making a $31,000 donation, much of it from parishioners, to launch the campaign.

The team doesn’t underestimate further issues with the town over parking capacity at the site. As well, an access road has to be built, with no offer of help from the town.  But there is still hope that shovels will be in the ground in the spring, with completion some time in 2026.

Carebridge says the CHIP project is unique in its experience. It has never before had a community group lay the groundwork for four years, inviting Carebridge to join the team in efforts to convince a municipality to care about affordable housing.

Normally, for Carebridge it has been the other way around: Carebridge has gone looking for land and support from a group or municipality.