Cobourg looks at affordable-housing sites

By Cecilia Nasmith

The Town of Cobourg Planning and Development Division, in partnership with the Communications Department, is pleased to announce the launch of the Potential Affordable Housing Sites project on Engage Cobourg – the on-line public-engagement platform designed to gather residents' comments and feedback.

This new public-engagement project is seeking input at the town looks to identify municipally owned property for potential disposal or possible use for affordable housing.

The objective is to inform residents and the development community of the land-use inventory results and the sites identified.

The genesis of this project came in November 2020,when council approved the Affordable and Rental Housing and Community Improvement Plan in recognition of a pressing community need. Staff were directed to create an inventory of potential municipal-owned surplus lands, buildings and facilities to consider as potential support for the donation or sale of surplus lands.

A year later, following extensive review that included the efforts of an internal ad hoc working group, council received a report that identified a number of sites as potentially suitable for affordable housing. These include:

• 17 Charles St. (the Charles Street parking lot)

• 69 Ballantine St. (Morley Cane Park)

• 521 Delanty Rd. (Peter Delanty Park)

• Tracey Park

• 96 Alice St. (former tannery property)

• Westwood Park

• the Hibernia Street parking lot

• 216 Furnace St. (the Cobourg Memorial Arena parking lot – and the press release reminds everyone that the future use of the area is the focus of another Public Engagement Program, details of which can be found on the What's Next for the Memorial Arena project page on the Engage Cobourg site)

You can share your thoughts on these sites by reviewing the list, completing the survey (which will be up through May 19) and submitting your comments through the on-line forum (also with a May 19 deadline).

“We look forward to hearing feedback from Cobourg residents on these sites, including ideas, questions or concerns from neighbouring community members, and explore development opportunities with the development industry and housing providers,” the announcement said.

Cobourg residents are encouraged to register on Engage Cobourg, create an on-line profile and participate in current public-engagement projects. Visit www.engagecobourg.ca and click on the Register Today button.

For questions, or for help with registering, e-mail  communications@cobourg.ca.