Surrey - The Editor, Re: "How can Surrey quash illegal suites for good?" the Now, July 17.
Amazingly, both Barinder Rasode and Linda Hepner are disenchanted with the illegal suite mess in Surrey. Let's not forget who elected to solve the problem initially by legalizing one suite per residence - it was Surrey First.That was supposed to solve the problem, with owners registering their suites. What a failure that was, and continues to be.Now it is more than one suite per residence causing an uproar, with minuscule fines of $1,000 for those caught to be in non-compliance. The fines should be 10 times that amount, with shut downs of anything over the now legal one.I find it ridiculous that Rasode is also speaking of lobbying senior levels of government to provide grant funding to help bring non-conforming suites up to safety and code standards. Sure, let's reward those who broke the bylaws to begin with. And let us all support her proposed pilot project to open up school parking lots to vehicles from these suites. How ridiculous, just more pandering to the ethnic block vote.Then we have Hepner, she who is glad that there is a proposal before city council for a rental development. One development? Maybe this should have been promoted years ago by the Surrey First-dominated council, of which she was/is a member.The suite situation has created congestion on our streets and in our schools.It has escalated the crime rates to an enormous degree, through the availability of welfare rate rents. It is time that the city employs the appropriate number of inspectors and bylaw officers, and empowers them to enforce a much higher level of fines for non-compliant property owners.Enough of these monster homes that have destroyed our community.J. ConleySurrey