Council’s recent decision may be a victory for some of those paying rent in Squamish.
The District’s proposed zoning bylaws are expected to place rental protections on 12 properties across town, following council’s Sept. 3 meeting.
Elected officials unanimously voted to approve third reading of its Residential Rental Tenure Zoning amendment bylaws.
Coun. Armand Hurford recused himself from the vote, as his business Republic Bicycles is in one of the affected properties.
These bylaws would ensure 309 existing rental units across those 12 properties stay as rental units in perpetuity, regardless of redevelopment.
Should redevelopment occur, the same number of units would have to stay in the property, with an average unit size of 76.18 square metres, or 820 square feet.
District staff say this would ensure new rental units span a range of sizes and bedrooms.
Councillors emphasized that developers could apply to have changes made to the average rental unit size, allowing for some flexibility.
Mayor Karen Elliott spoke of managing both owners and renters’ needs.
“Finding that balance is really important here,” said Elliott.
“Allowing both development to happen so that old buildings don’t become derelict, because people underinvested in them, because they don’t see the potential in them. But also not incentivizing gentrification and moving people out of our community.”
Coun. Doug Race spoke of the possible threat to existing rental stock.
“It is, I think, just a sign of our times,” said Race. “We do need to protect rental accommodations. It’s an important part of the housing spectrum, and, without protection, it can disappear on us, which is not what we want.”
Council’s vote arrived following a public hearing, during which two people voiced their opinions on the matter.
Staff said 11 letters were received in support while six either asked questions or raised concerns.
During the hearing in council chambers, one person said she was concerned about how the municipality communicated the proposed changes to the public.
The other speaker identified himself as a part-owner and manager of the properties on 38170, 38180 and 38190 Westway Ave. in Valleycliffe.
All three properties will be designated as rental tenure zones under this new bylaw.
“I believe it is not the property owner’s job to provide affordable housing units,” said Otto Boffo, a Burnaby resident. “This should be the job of all levels of government.”
He said the changes would affect the property values and will impact their development potential moving forward.
“I’d like to see more affirmative density increases to offset the additional cost to provide rental replacement,” Boffo said.
He later told The Chief that he didn’t agree with the motion.
Boffo said it takes a lot of money to maintain the units, and it will reach a point when it becomes too costly.
“I think the best way to do it is to provide certainty for the owner... to know what their options are, and now their property is being basically down-zoned with restrictions.”
He said a solution would be to give developers constructing purpose-built rental units a density bonus, so they can build more units to pay for additional costs.
The properties affected by this bylaw are: 41340 Government Road; 1917-1927 Diamond Road; 38201 Westway Avenue; 38064A Cleveland Ave; 38100 6th Avenue; 1018 McNamee Place; 1090 Wilson Crescent; 1098 Wilson Crescent; 40351-40361 Diamond Head Road; 38170, 38180, 38190 Westway Avenue; 38861-38865 Buckley Avenue; and 1951 Garibaldi Way.
To address B.C.’s housing shortage, the province gave municipalities the power to implement rental tenure zoning last year.
This gave local governments the ability to ensure that all housing units — or a certain number, portion or percentage of those units — in a building or a piece of land be rental.
