City of Vernon looking at federal, provincial land for new housing

The City of Vernon has identified some land owned by senior levels of government that could be used for new non-market housing.

Vernon’s Non-Market Housing Land Task Force (NHLTF) was tasked with finding property within the municipality that could be used for supporting or affordable housing, and found four properties that were being underused. It also found one site that could be used for treated wastewater irrigation.

The report from the NHLTF said there was the potential of building more housing on a nine acre parcel at the DND (Department of National Defence) Grounds between Highway 97 and Mission Road; at a 3.8 acre parcel between Highway 97 and Clerke Road; at the 3.8 acre Brigadier Murphy Armoury property; and at Justice Park, located at the intersection of 20th Ave. and 27th St.

The task force said there were no complications associated with the DND Grounds site, though did note there could be some issues with building homes on the other sites. The Clerke Road property is designated as agricultural land and would need additional regulatory considerations before housing could be built; the armoury property includes a Recognized Federal Heritage Building but had been identified as potential surplus land for redevelopment, and the Justice Park site was relatively small at 0.9 acres but could be developed in a way to provide housing while balancing its existing park function.