Hamilton councillors vote to reject affordable housing — to save 27 Stoney Creek parking spots

Hamilton councillors have rejected a plan to build 67 new affordable homes on city-owned land currently being used as a surface parking lot.

The split 8-8 vote at general issues committee meeting Wednesday drew condemnation from Mayor Andrea Horwath who said in a statement afterwards that the councillors opposed were "choosing parking lots over housing people."

"I am extremely disappointed in committee's decision to put parking lots before desperately needed affordable housing in Hamilton," Horwath said. 

A final vote will take place at council next week.

Horwath urged councillors to "do the right thing" to build affordable housing. She is hoping some councillors change their mind but if no one is willing to flip, she hasn't ruled out using her strong mayor powers to push the plan through, said Horwath on Friday.

The provider would be allowed to build two buildings on the downtown Stoney Creek properties at 5 and 13 Lake Ave. S., staff say in a report. 

The tradeoff would mean losing 57 parking spots, currently available free of charge, in the current 162-spot lot, Brian Hollingworth, general manager of planning, told councillors.

The affordable housing development would add back 30 spaces, meaning the total lost would be 27, Hollingworth said. City staff monitored the lots on four separate weekdays and estimated they were, at most, 80 per cent full. 

Residents oppose development

Many Stoney Creek residents were opposed to losing any spots as it's the only municipal lot in the area and is relied on by customers of local businesses and people attending community events.

A petition submitted to the committee had over 1,000 signatures and several business groups and residents spoke as delegates. 

"To be clear, we are not opposed to the needs of the housing crisis," said Brenda Wilson with the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce. "We don't care if you were building multi-million dollar condos. It's about the space and how much parking is available." 

Coun. Matt Francis, who represents the ward and spearheaded the public consultation, was also against the development.

"It's about saving the parking lot in an increasingly busy downtown area," he said. 

He had the support of councillors representing suburban and rural areas of Hamilton, including Ward 11 Glanbrook Coun. Mark Tadeson.

Tadeson told CBC Hamilton on Friday he hasn't changing his mind as "there was considerable resistance in the community" and he's trying to do the right thing for the most people. 

Francis has also proposed an alternative site for affordable housing — above the Dominic Agostino Riverdale Community Centre. 

'We've never declared a parking crisis'

But frustration from the other half of council was still palpable, with Coun. Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2) arguing the community centre should be in addition to the parking lot land. 

"It's a huge hill we're climbing here and we have to take advantage of every asset we have," he said. "While some people find parking to be frustrating, we've never declared a parking crisis. We've declared a housing crisis." 

Coun. John-Paul Danko (Ward 8) noted the Stoney Creek properties are already zoned as mixed use, which allows residential development. 

"It should be no surprise these lots are developing," he said.

He said it's "unconscionable" councillors would be willing to sacrifice 67 new affordable housing units for 27 parking spaces. 

Francis told CBC Hamilton his worry is that the 30 parking spots added back wouldn't be for public use, so the loss could actually be of all 57 parking spaces. He said the issue is also "compounded" by the fact it would add more housing units than parking spots so some new residents could need additional parking. 

The Stoney Creek properties were earmarked as surplus and included in the staff review of city land that could be used for affordable housing. The review was prompted by unanimous council votes in 2023 as part of an overall plan to better address the housing and homelessness crises.

Four other sites were selected and approved:

• 171 Main St. E. in downtown Ward 2 is a parking lot and will be sold to a private developer with proceeds going toward other affordable housing projects.
• 9 Clarence St. in Ward 2 Hamilton is vacant and the city is looking to buy an adjacent parcel and re-zone the area for affordable housing. 
• 70 Hope Ave. in the lower city east Ward 4 is a parking lot and will be rezoned to build 54 affordable units.
• 1126 Garth St. on the West Mountain Ward 14 is a pocket of green space the city will allow 34 affordable units to be built

How they voted

For: Mayor Andrea Horwath, Maureen Wilson (Ward 1), Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2), Nrinder Nann (Ward 3), Tammy Hwang (Ward 4), John-Paul Danko (Ward 8), Craig Cassar (Ward 12) and Alex Wilson (Ward 13)

Against: Matt Francis (Ward 5), Tom Jackson (Ward 6), Esther Pauls (Ward 7), Brad Clark (Ward 9), Jeff Beattie (Ward 10), Mike Spadafora (Ward 14) and Ted McMeekin (Ward 15)