Planning Department’s Secondary Suite Open
House Meeting Thursday, April 25, 2019, 4:30 to
7:00 pm Oak Bay Rec Centre - 1975 Bee Street
Regulation Legislation isn’t Registration
Currently, enforcement for existing suites is adequate: however, changing the Zoning Bylaw to allow more secondary suites (infill) will result in: more unregulated suites, increased administration and enforcement costs, higher taxes, multiple tenants, streets lined with many more cars, absentee landlord problems, loss of more trees and green space and significant AirBnB issues.
Facts:
The BC Union of Municipalities has also reported that: “The role of local government under B.C. law is not to act as an advocate for new development – that would actually be contrary to B.C law - but to act as a neutral quasi-judicial decision maker hearing both the views of the developer and the citizens and making a decision”. Shouldn't the Advisory Planning Commission and the Council Member who promoted basement suite legislation have respected this.
House Meeting Thursday, April 25, 2019, 4:30 to
7:00 pm Oak Bay Rec Centre - 1975 Bee Street
Regulation Legislation isn’t Registration
Currently, enforcement for existing suites is adequate: however, changing the Zoning Bylaw to allow more secondary suites (infill) will result in: more unregulated suites, increased administration and enforcement costs, higher taxes, multiple tenants, streets lined with many more cars, absentee landlord problems, loss of more trees and green space and significant AirBnB issues.
Facts:
- Oak Bay cannot tax rental suite income and all residents must pay for the municipal services and impact costs. Adding more non-revenue population means even higher tax increases for everyone - many who do not have the income to support them.
- In other jurisdictions when Zoning has permitted this type of intensive infill, registration has been at best minimal. New registrations are from developer new-builds – registering the suite increases the asking price.
- The BC Union of Municipalities in 2018 reported on short term rentals: “Enforcement can be very costly for local governments and may require continuous fine-tuning as property owners adapt to evade enforcement activities, and no one city has been able to develop a policy framework to effectively enable and enforce short-term rental activity”.
- It seems illogical for the Planning Department to be moving ahead prematurely with Infill and Suites when there are so many more important issues that require their immediate attention. Implementing development cost charges to cut taxes; fixing infrastructure; correcting the broken zoning bylaw that was reported to the Advisory Planning Commission as being responsible for developers “Building to the maximum” and preservation of our Urban forest are all urgent matters that must prioritized and addressed first.
The BC Union of Municipalities has also reported that: “The role of local government under B.C. law is not to act as an advocate for new development – that would actually be contrary to B.C law - but to act as a neutral quasi-judicial decision maker hearing both the views of the developer and the citizens and making a decision”. Shouldn't the Advisory Planning Commission and the Council Member who promoted basement suite legislation have respected this.