New secondary suite rules go before public hearing
Hearing follows motion approved to move process out of council’s hands
Proposed changes to streamline the city’s secondary suite application process are set to go before public hearing Monday.
The agenda for the meeting, where members of the public will have a chance to provide input on the new process proposed by city administration, includes more than 900 letters sent to city hall on the subject.
The public hearing follows a motion approved in a 10-5 vote in December to move the timeconsuming process of secondary suite approvals out of city council’s hands and to make secondary suites a discretionary use across the city.
Coun. Jyoti Gondek said as she was reading over the hundreds of public submissions Sunday, a couple of letters led her to feel “discouraged by how complicated we’ve made this process.”
“There’s a letter from a senior who’s concerned that we are asking her to create a suite, so I think we’ve made this situation so complicated that people are not even sure what we’re trying to accomplish (Monday),” she said.
“I really hope that we can make it very clear at the outset that what we’re trying to do is take the decision-making out of the hands of the politicians and allow administration to make decisions based on some strong criteria that they’ve proposed,” she added.
“And that’s why we’re proposing it be a discretionary use, to give comfort to the folks right now that are not keen on it, so that they know that discretion will be applied and it is not an absolute yes from the get-go — it’s a possibility.”
Coun. Sean Chu, who voted against the motion in December, said he is preparing a number of questions for city staff about the proposed changes, including why a suggested amnesty on development permit fees for suites is only for a two-year time period. He also wants to ensure that safety regulations for secondary suites will be strictly enforced, and plans to propose that owners of secondary suites be required to live at the residence.
Chu noted that out of more than 200 emails he has received from constituents about the issue, only five support the proposed bylaw changes.
The bylaw amendments would add secondary suites and backyard suites as discretionary uses to the R-1, R-C1 and R-C1L districts (the only residential districts in the city where suites are not currently allowed either as permitted or discretionary use).
The change would mean homeowners in the three areas could apply for a development permit rather than a land-use amendment. As part of that application, notice would be posted to solicit comments from adjacent properties.
Council will also discuss a proposal for mandatory participation in a registry that allows residents to search a database of suites that have been approved and inspected by the city.
Administration is also recommending the reintroduction of development permit fees for suites, following a two-year amnesty period for existing and proposed suites, during which enforcement would be focused on encouraging owners of existing illegal suites to apply for permits to bring the units up to safety standards.
The proposed changes affect around 170,000 properties across the city.