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Construction of affordable housing project delayed until spring

Delays cause the Revelstoke Community Housing Society to put off construction on its affordable housing project until at least the spring.

Ongoing delays have caused the Revelstoke Community Housing Society to put off construction on its affordable housing project until at least the spring.

"It's a combination of everything," said Mark McKee, the chair of the housing society. "What happened is we just ran out of time. I thought that we would be starting construction but we had to put it off. It's been one thing after another."

The issue is that there are still items needed before the city can award a building permit, said Dean Strachan, the manager of development services for the city.

He said engineering drawings are lacking but more importantly, they are waiting on verification from the Homeowner Protection Office.

"They have to complete the process and these are things we don't have any choice about," said Strachan. "The HPO is provincial regulation so issuing a permit without that satisfied is illegal."

McKee said the housing society is close to being finished with the approvals, but the process has been bigger and taken longer than anticipated.

"We're on the door step of all of our approvals, which will allow us to go to BC Housing for our final approval," he said.

He said the project would likely go out for a new tender once all the permits are in place so the society can then get the final funding approved by BC Housing.

McKee said he is confident the funding, expected to be around $1.2 million, will still be in place come the spring.

"Hopefully, fingers-crossed, we'll be starting in the spring," he said.