Public hearings are necessary

Dear Editor:

On Tuesday, city council will hear an application to allow both a carriage house and a secondary suite be approved on a single R2-zoned lot that under the current zoning bylaw is not permitted.

This application raises two concerns about neighbourhood densification and vacation rentals.

Because of the COVID-19 crisis, the public cannot appear before council and present arguments against the application. The only opportunity to voice opposition is to contact the individual members of council. Without public input, council may well hear only one side of the argument presented by city staff.

This does not constitute a process that is open and transparent. Consequently, letters to the editor have, by default, become a forum for public input.

Regarding the aforementioned application, will council hear an argument that it contradicts the neighbourhood’s current designation? The Official Community Plan has designated the neighbourhood as low density. Three dwelling units on one property do not constitute the low density neighbourhood vision set out in the plan.

While the application is site-specific, it will set a precedent that will reverberate throughout the city.

Families buy into a neighbourhood because of what it is, as set out in the zoning bylaw, and not because of what a developer wants it to be. When applications like this that can alter the character of a neighbourhood are approved; neighbourhoods turn into a developer’s dreamland.

We should not have to live in fear about what might happen next door or across the street. Zoning bylaws must be consistent and held firm so as to establish a degree of confidence in those buying into a neighbourhood.

The application also raises concern about affordable housing units being converted into vacation rentals because the returns are so much better. Last year, this issue was in the news with many stories highlighting the rising growth of vacation rentals significantly impacting the longterm rental housing stock.

And this leads to the question as to what process has the city put in place to ensure that the applicant does not create a vacation rental enterprise with his secondary suite and carriage house in a residential neighbourhood? Council has a duty to respect and protect neighbourhoods from such intrusion.

Council has a choice with this application. Either reject it outright at first reading, which is the obvious choice, or postpone further readings until a public hearing is possible.

Don Cummings

Penticton