Council Meeting 18 March 2013

Agenda

There is a Public Hearing at 7pm  BYLAW NO. 8295

322 East Keith Road.

FROM: RS-1 (One-Unit Residential 1)
TO: CD-637 (Comprehensive Development 637 Zone)

To permit the construction of a side-by-side two-unit building. A total of four parking 
stalls are proposed, with vehicle access from the lane. The applicant is seeking a 
variance to project outside the allowable building height envelope. However, the 
overall height of the building will not exceed the permitted 9.14 metres (30 feet).

It is just another single family home being turned into a duplex as the Council does most weeks in their war against family housing but there is a second public hearing which will allow duplexes in the City to legally add 2 secondary (basement) suites to each duplex property.  It is probably scheduled the week after the Onni property public hearing as the public will be tired of sitting in City Hall and it will pass without much notice or comment.


PUBLIC HEARING for ZONING BYLAW NO. 8296

To amend the text of “Zoning Bylaw, 1995, No. 6700” to permit secondary suites 
(Accessory Dwelling Units) in duplexes (Two-Unit Residential buildings).

The text amendment would allow Accessory Dwelling Units in Two-Unit Residential 
buildings in zones where Two-Unit Residential buildings are permitted. These are 
primarily, but not exclusively, the RT-1 and RT-2 Zones.

An “Accessory Dwelling Unit” means a secondary dwelling unit accessory to the 
principal duplex unit and is owner occupied, requires one additional parking stall and 
has a maximum size of 969 square feet.

A building permit application will be required to permit this use and the current BC 
Building Code standards must be complied with.

This is what Councillor Clark reversed his position on about a year and a half ago so it will likely pass unless he now wants to stick to his principles and not be fooled by the Mayor's tricks.

Of course, a lot of duplexes have illegal suites where the owners are not paying the fees or the taxes to the City or the Federal Government.  Many do not meet the building code and other health and safety requirements.  But the City government does not care, they turn an official blind eye to these lawbreakers.  When someone dies, it will be clearly the City's fault.  Perhaps the Federal government should launch an investigation on the tax cheating and the Province should launch an investigation on the health and safety violations involved.

If the City does not crack down on these illegal suites, owners will not go through the expense of registering them under this new bylaw.

There will also be an update on the CityDensifying plan to ensure the OCP promotes more and denser development which will dramatically raise the bar on building height.  Eventually the Mayor wants buildings that rival his Uncle Gregor's ones in Vancouver.

Finally there has been a motion to reconsider the Council pay increases?