Letters from Jeff Vandermeer and Steve Burke express the same angst I have shared with many in the past.
The issue of secondary suites started long ago, with the definition of unauthorized suites versus communal family living never being resolved. Remember when the city enforced the bylaw requiring the removal of a downstairs oven in your single-family home?
Today red-tagged structures, illegal parking, and unsafe living conditions are ignored and now Mayor Dianne Watts wants to accept multiple suites in designated areas.
Hello, city hall: There are unauthorized multiple suites everywhere already.
There are problems with parking, over-crowded schools, over-burdened resources, unauthorized home businesses, uncollected city revenues, and absent landlords/drug houses.
The mayor is an intelligent woman and I personally love the restructuring of Whalley/Civic Plaza.
I am fortunate enough to live with (mostly) good neighbours, walk to work at a wonderful new city building and I know for a fact that parking issues are not our first concern regarding multiple suites in single-family designated neighbourhoods.
There is not an instant fix to this long neglected issue.
However, before proceeding with a new plan, I highly suggest the mayor use her resources at hand and support the bylaws department and citizens of our city. The bylaws department has been referred to as a “joke” in this city – non-existent and powerless.
My suggestion to Mayor Watts is to immediately hire, train and revamp the bylaws department to grow with us and regain some respect and accountability.
Shelley Montgomery