Newsletter - June 27. 2021 – In case you missed this:
Times Colonist - Oak Bay Resident Letter June 26, 2021: (A response to a University of Victoria June 23, 2021 Campaign Representative Letter).
June 23, 2021 Campaign Representative Letter: “Oak Bay should ease occupancy limits”. See Appendix #1
June 26, 2021 Oak Bay Resident Response Letter:
Housing policy should not be based on a public relations or a lobbying perspective.
With reference to the Times Colonist letter June 23, 2021 “Oak Bay should ease occupancy limits”, it appears that the writer is not aware that Oak Bay currently has an estimated 750 basement suites and that this is approximately 15% of Oak Bay’s total single-family dwellings.
Homeowners with suites can subsidize their mortgage payments and incomes but, cannot be taxed on the rents they charge. However, municipal services must be provided by the rest of the community for the rental population this represents.
Oak Bay’s tax revenue is provided almost 100% by property taxes. In the last seven years Oak Bay has had a financial shortfall and this has had to be subsidized (bailed out) by tax increases that far exceed and are disproportionate to any of the other CRD Municipalities.
While this high proportion of suite rental accommodation does not provide any revenue to Oak Bay, the writer seems to think it is incumbent on residents to provide housing for the University, Camosun College and Private Schools even though they contribute very little funding towards municipal services.
According to Council reports a change in zoning to allow multi-tenant suites will result in 1500 - to 1700 new suites. The only information that residents have been provided with so far is what attempts other communities have made to control the resulting negative suite impacts. Council has not discussed that these attempts have failed.
Not withstanding the many negative impacts that multi-tenant suites would have on neighbours, the environment, Oak Bay’s budget, parking and traffic, as a former long term social planner and social service manager I can assure you it’s not a good idea to put a lot of people in a basement anytime and call it proper. healthy and safe accommodation. Let alone during a deadly pandemic.”
Anthony Mears - Oak Bay
Oak Bay Watch PerspectiveNewsletters
If it were possible to regulate secondary suiteHomes successfully there would be ample evidence-based research to show this. If this “regulatory information” were available, it is more than likely that our staff and the secondary suite consultant would have provided it by now. The fact that Oak Bay’s existing 2-tenant suites have not been regulated speaks to the difficulties involved.
In 2009 the National Post reported an Ontario Supreme Court Judge ruled in favour of homeowners who lived in an adjacent nighbourhood to Oshawa University and a college. The case involved a substantial number of homes in their neighbourhood that were being used as student boarding houses and were causing serious problems for neighbours and the neighbourhood in general.
The judge ruled. “neighbourhood planning would be impossible if the definition of a single housekeeping establishment could include any number of persons, each independent from each other, coming together for temporary short-term economic reasons to share the cost of accommodation.”
It is not unusual in Canada for the character of single-family neighbourhoods that border universities to have the character of that neighbourhood negatively impacted because of boarding-house business opportunities. Oshawa’s long-suffering residents had to endure a costly, lengthy undertaking to correct this situation.
North Henderson is adjacent to both a university and a college and in recent years Oak Bay Watch is aware that three similar multi-tenant boarding houses were closed by Council. Each had in excess of 10 students. The present zoning protected residents and provided an immediate solution.
If the Zoning bylaw is changed however to allow multi-tenant suites, dealing with these boarding house situations and problem suites would become much more difficult, expensive and time consuming.
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“Nothing is inevitable if you are paying attention” Oak Bay Watch
Oak Bay Watch is a volunteer community association and its members have a variety of professional backgrounds in both the public and private sector.
*******Please help us continue to provide you with information about Community concerns and Council decisions and actions. Oak Bay Watch members also help community groups with their specific development concerns. Donate to Oak Bay Watch - even $5 or $10 dollars helps cover expenses for door- to- door handouts and helps us maintain our website. Oak Bay Watch is committed to ensuring the Community gets the full range of information on budget, governance and all key development issues – a well-informed opinion cannot be made without this.
(Please use Donate Button at bottom of oakbaywatch.com Home Page)
Keep informed and sign up for our newsletter – bottom of Newsletter Menu Item.
Appendix #1
Times Colonist June 23, 2021 University of Victoria Campaign representative letter:
“I am the Director of Campaigns and Community Relations at the University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS), I am also a resident and member of the Oak Bay community. As a Director of the UVSS, representing over 19,000 undergraduate students at UVic, I urge the mayor and council to move forward with approving and regulating secondary accommodations.
As university students and young professionals hoping to develop our careers and contribute our skills and passions within the Oak Bay community, we are finding the severe lack of housing availability and affordability to be a fundamental barrier to finding affordable, suitable, safe, and stable housing.
We believe that Oak Bay would benefit, now and in the future, from having more young adults welcomed into, and engaging with, the community. For this to happen, Oak Bay Council must remove the restrictive policies that unnecessarily make it seem like wanting to take up residence is an illegal activity. These policies include the restrictive housing occupancy limits, and the issue in conversation today: that of allowing regulated secondary suites.
Residents of Oak Bay benefit in many ways from the presence of a vibrant university community on their doorstep. Regulating secondary accommodation is a step in the right direction towards welcoming students and faculty back this fall and strengthening relations with the university community.”
Director of Campaigns and Community Relations
Times Colonist - Oak Bay Resident Letter June 26, 2021: (A response to a University of Victoria June 23, 2021 Campaign Representative Letter).
June 23, 2021 Campaign Representative Letter: “Oak Bay should ease occupancy limits”. See Appendix #1
June 26, 2021 Oak Bay Resident Response Letter:
Housing policy should not be based on a public relations or a lobbying perspective.
With reference to the Times Colonist letter June 23, 2021 “Oak Bay should ease occupancy limits”, it appears that the writer is not aware that Oak Bay currently has an estimated 750 basement suites and that this is approximately 15% of Oak Bay’s total single-family dwellings.
Homeowners with suites can subsidize their mortgage payments and incomes but, cannot be taxed on the rents they charge. However, municipal services must be provided by the rest of the community for the rental population this represents.
Oak Bay’s tax revenue is provided almost 100% by property taxes. In the last seven years Oak Bay has had a financial shortfall and this has had to be subsidized (bailed out) by tax increases that far exceed and are disproportionate to any of the other CRD Municipalities.
While this high proportion of suite rental accommodation does not provide any revenue to Oak Bay, the writer seems to think it is incumbent on residents to provide housing for the University, Camosun College and Private Schools even though they contribute very little funding towards municipal services.
According to Council reports a change in zoning to allow multi-tenant suites will result in 1500 - to 1700 new suites. The only information that residents have been provided with so far is what attempts other communities have made to control the resulting negative suite impacts. Council has not discussed that these attempts have failed.
Not withstanding the many negative impacts that multi-tenant suites would have on neighbours, the environment, Oak Bay’s budget, parking and traffic, as a former long term social planner and social service manager I can assure you it’s not a good idea to put a lot of people in a basement anytime and call it proper. healthy and safe accommodation. Let alone during a deadly pandemic.”
Anthony Mears - Oak Bay
Oak Bay Watch PerspectiveNewsletters
If it were possible to regulate secondary suiteHomes successfully there would be ample evidence-based research to show this. If this “regulatory information” were available, it is more than likely that our staff and the secondary suite consultant would have provided it by now. The fact that Oak Bay’s existing 2-tenant suites have not been regulated speaks to the difficulties involved.
In 2009 the National Post reported an Ontario Supreme Court Judge ruled in favour of homeowners who lived in an adjacent nighbourhood to Oshawa University and a college. The case involved a substantial number of homes in their neighbourhood that were being used as student boarding houses and were causing serious problems for neighbours and the neighbourhood in general.
The judge ruled. “neighbourhood planning would be impossible if the definition of a single housekeeping establishment could include any number of persons, each independent from each other, coming together for temporary short-term economic reasons to share the cost of accommodation.”
It is not unusual in Canada for the character of single-family neighbourhoods that border universities to have the character of that neighbourhood negatively impacted because of boarding-house business opportunities. Oshawa’s long-suffering residents had to endure a costly, lengthy undertaking to correct this situation.
North Henderson is adjacent to both a university and a college and in recent years Oak Bay Watch is aware that three similar multi-tenant boarding houses were closed by Council. Each had in excess of 10 students. The present zoning protected residents and provided an immediate solution.
If the Zoning bylaw is changed however to allow multi-tenant suites, dealing with these boarding house situations and problem suites would become much more difficult, expensive and time consuming.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
“Nothing is inevitable if you are paying attention” Oak Bay Watch
Oak Bay Watch is a volunteer community association and its members have a variety of professional backgrounds in both the public and private sector.
*******Please help us continue to provide you with information about Community concerns and Council decisions and actions. Oak Bay Watch members also help community groups with their specific development concerns. Donate to Oak Bay Watch - even $5 or $10 dollars helps cover expenses for door- to- door handouts and helps us maintain our website. Oak Bay Watch is committed to ensuring the Community gets the full range of information on budget, governance and all key development issues – a well-informed opinion cannot be made without this.
(Please use Donate Button at bottom of oakbaywatch.com Home Page)
Keep informed and sign up for our newsletter – bottom of Newsletter Menu Item.
Appendix #1
Times Colonist June 23, 2021 University of Victoria Campaign representative letter:
“I am the Director of Campaigns and Community Relations at the University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS), I am also a resident and member of the Oak Bay community. As a Director of the UVSS, representing over 19,000 undergraduate students at UVic, I urge the mayor and council to move forward with approving and regulating secondary accommodations.
As university students and young professionals hoping to develop our careers and contribute our skills and passions within the Oak Bay community, we are finding the severe lack of housing availability and affordability to be a fundamental barrier to finding affordable, suitable, safe, and stable housing.
We believe that Oak Bay would benefit, now and in the future, from having more young adults welcomed into, and engaging with, the community. For this to happen, Oak Bay Council must remove the restrictive policies that unnecessarily make it seem like wanting to take up residence is an illegal activity. These policies include the restrictive housing occupancy limits, and the issue in conversation today: that of allowing regulated secondary suites.
Residents of Oak Bay benefit in many ways from the presence of a vibrant university community on their doorstep. Regulating secondary accommodation is a step in the right direction towards welcoming students and faculty back this fall and strengthening relations with the university community.”
Director of Campaigns and Community Relations