DUPLEX PUSHBACK

Could rezoning be reversed?

Vancouver city council’s vote to allow duplexes in most parts of the city’s single-family home areas could be easily reversed after the Oct. 20 election.

Independent mayoral candidate Sean Cassidy is already calling on city council candidates to reverse the upzoning decision, if elected.

“If we are to create more affordable housing choices for Vancouverites without tearing our city apart, we need to restore citizens’ trust with proper neighbourhoodlevel engagement first,” he said in a news release. “Real estate developers, speculators and already highincome earners with high mobility will benefit the most from this upzoning. On the other hand, low- to middle-income families and renters living in affected single-family home areas will be at risk of displacement in a low vacancy market with soaring housing costs.”

According to a statement from the city, “should a future council wish to reverse the effect of this recent bylaw change, they would need to instruct staff to prepare bylaws to remove duplex as a use and refer that change to a future public hearing.”

Council has approved changes to allow duplexes in 99 per cent of single-family areas, but the bylaw has yet to be enacted.

There are neighbourhood associations who are unhappy with the lack of consultation and blanket application of a rezoning that would add supply without considering aspects such as demand and speculation.

Jake Fry, president at Smallworks, which builds laneway homes and duplexes, said the term “single-family home” zoning is a misnomer because, with changes over the years, these lots can currently, legally, accommodate three units, including a main home, a secondary suite (such as in a basement) and a laneway house.

Now, with the upzoning, these lots can hold four units, two duplexes that are more family-oriented each with a “lock-off ” space that is small and have space for only one bedroom.

For a developer, the return will be higher on the east side. ANDY YAN, urban planner

A key difference between the three housing units currently allowed on a single-family lot and the four that would be allowed is that a laneway house cannot be sold on its own, but a duplex with one lock-off space can be.

Fry said going from three to four units was a modest addition to housing stock. The square footage allowed for the four units would be about the same as originally allowed.

“These are great steps forward, but for the pain of going through the change, and in balancing multiple issues and taking a conservative approach, there is less value in it. It’s not going to get us to the core of the issue when it comes to shifting who can live in a home in the city,” Fry said.

Indeed, there seem to be many details to consider.

Urban planner Andy Yan thinks because it’s cheaper to buy land on the east side of the city, developers would naturally look there first to build duplexes.

“They are saying this will densify the west side, but there is a fallacy in this thinking when, for a developer, the return will be higher on the east side, where without proper precautions there is more the risk of gentle displacement,” said Yan.