Councillors call for secondary suite submissions without personal details
Applicants tell compelling stories in attempt to secure council approval
A secondary suite application that included the words “my wife has lupus and she recently lost both her legs” prompted elected officials Monday to question if such personal details should be redacted from submissions in the future.
With 20 secondary suite applications on the agenda, Calgary’s new city council had rejected one proposal and approved 11 by 4 p.m., including OK’ing an application from Danny and Nha Wong, who purchased a Collingwood home in March.
The young couple plans to tear down the existing house and build an accessible abode where Nha, who had both her legs amputated in March, can regain independence with help from her retired parents who will live in a secondary suite in the basement.
Homeowners like the Wongs who want to legally put a stove in their basement in Calgary must plead for a zoning change directly to city council, where elected officials debate and vote on every application monthly.
It’s a process unheard of in Canada and one Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who promised secondary suite reform in his 2010 election campaign, has repeatedly blasted.
“What we’re seeing, especially after today, is council being reminded of how awful this is, what a waste of time it is, how expensive it is, how ludicrous it is for us to be pitting neighbour against neighbour in this way,” the mayor said Monday.
“It’s not rocket science. It’s what every other city in the country has already done.”
While secondary suite decisions are legally supposed to be made on planning principles, Calgarians will often tell personal stories about who will live in the suite or why it’s needed, to strengthen their case as they plead to council for a stove in their basement.
A recent study paid for by two councillors found 83 per cent of the 265 suite applications council heard over a two-year period were approved, with applicants more likely to have a suite OK’d if they told a compelling personal story.
After the Wongs spoke to council Monday about their application, Ward 13 Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart asked city administration to explore if personal details could legally be wiped from applications.
“When I look at the letters that are here, there are statements made in there that are irrelevant, that should be redacted,” ColleyUrquhart said.
Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra agreed.
“The reality is that the very compelling personal story that we heard today from the proponent is sort of irrelevant,” he said. “They could sell it (the home) tomorrow.”
But after her application was approved, a relieved Nha told reporters taking personal information out of secondary suite applications would leave them sparse.
“If it got redacted, it would have just said, ‘Please let us have (another) kitchen.’ There would be nothing for us to say in the application.”
Her husband, Danny, said he doesn’t understand why Calgary can’t follow in the footsteps of other cities and move the secondary suite process out of council’s hands.
“If we’re going to (redact information) … let’s just do proper reform,” he said.
Nenshi said he would have to wait for a legal opinion on redacting personal details, noting even getting rid of hateful comments in public applications is challenging.
“It’s a Band-Aid for something that requires a far larger bandage than that,” he said of removing personal details.
Nha said she’s pleased her project can move forward and expressed surprise at comments made in council chambers by Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu.
“Last week, when the agenda came out … there was some people with position, including media, basically telling the world that city council are bad, we’re asking for personal stories,” Chu said.
“The fact is that council only listens to what’s a planning issue.”
In response to Chu’s comments, Ward 3 Coun. Jyoti Gondek, in her first term, said it’s absolutely all right for media and the public to weigh in on the secondary suite issue.
“It’s called engagement, it’s called democracy,” Gondek said in council chambers.
“And frankly, sitting on this side of it, it’s awful having to listen to someone’s personal situation.”
Ward 11 Coun. Jeromy Farkas agreed.
“Sitting on the other side of the glass, it’s more evident than ever that the current process is broken — it’s cruel, it’s inhumane, it pits neighbours against neighbours,” said the rookie councillor.