For a few moments on Monday evening, it appeared that Prince Rupert City Council was heading into the direction of having to reverse some of its work on the theme of Renoviction and Rental Housing concerns, that as Councillor Barry Cunningham called attention to a few concerns he had with what had become the final draft of the city's proposed bylaw on rental housing.
That consensus of two weeks ago came after a lengthy period of consideration by Council and staff that dates back to September of 2021, when they first began their work towards protection for renters, that after some high profile renovations and notes on some housing conditions in the city.
Monday night Councillor Cunningham once again expressed some frustration that as he viewed it, the council had gone backwards from where they were a few weeks ago, with some of the language of the bylaw making for his concern over protection for the most vulnerable residents of the city.
"We've gone backwards on this, it was first, we we're going to exempt single family dwellings unit now it has gone it does not apply to single family dwelling units, two family dwelling units or secondary suites if any of these units.
You could have a duplex, and the way this read, they could have three or four suites in the duplex to make a five plex and its still exempt, I think it's almost deceiving, deceptive wording here. Simply because people living in these suites are the most vulnerable people and yes they're going to be covered by a complaint driven system, but I'd rather see a number on this of ... two family dwelling and / or three units something like that.
You're leaving this wide open and the most vulnerable people are the people who are going to be affected the most. You're not going to complain about sub par housing right now in this town, because if you complain and your landlord says I'm going to renovate and kick you out you're not protected and then on top it you've got not place to find.
And this is the vulnerable people, the lower income people things like that, so I'd rather see a specific number on that exemption, rather than leave it wide open"
As part of the follow up back and forth with Council members, most that participated tended to suggest that there was a level of protection that they had been seeking for those at the most risk for renovictions or in less than adequate housing situations.
City Manager Rob Buchan provided some background on the new bylaw proposal, as well as to note of an accompanying bylaw to be considered on the night to try to clarify any confusion on the topic.
"I would note that this has changed to include duplexes as per council's decision of last week, so the exemption is an exemption from being part of a licensing program, so section ten excludes single family dwellings with suites or duplexes with suites if council approves that to be exempt from the licensing part.
Part four of the bylaw pertains to property management those aren't exempted at all, so this is only from the licensing part.
The practical application of this bylaw once council and if council adopts the omnibus bylaw that is on the Agenda would be a four units, that would be the practical application of this ... this is quite specific it says single family dwellings or two family dwelling and basically any ancillary units that are within them"
The City Manager also offered up a solution to the concerns raised by Councillor Cunningham on the evening.
"I would just note for Council's consideration, that if Council proceeds with adopting the bylaw as it's currently written, that does not prevent, preclude council from watching how its administred and watching the implication of how its administered and making changes if necessary.
To add more protections, or to take away some of the regulations depending on how effective it is.
So this is a step forward, I think in many ways and you know if there is concern about how effective it is, Council could also pass a resolution two say please bring back a review after a year to see how well its working, to see if there's any tweaks that need to occur, that's an option for Council to consider"
Towards additional concerns from Mr. Cunningham that landlords could start renovating and add more suites than originally allowed, the City Manager offered up guidance that that would be a violation and something subject to enforcement.
"I understand that would be an issue, but it's not an issue that is directly impacted by this. If somebody puts in a fifth unit, that would be a violation of the zoning bylaw and if we were to find out about it then we could act on it for bylaw enforcement ... I think its a separate issue that can be managed effectively separately"
Councillor Mirau seemed to gauge the sense of Council that for the most part they had addressed many of the concerns that launched their process last fall, with Mr. Miaru noting how he believed that they had reached a consensus earlier this month.
"I felt like we're rehashing the debate from third reading, I thought we reached a good compromise, so all I'd really want to add is I think perfection in this case, or searching for perfection is the enemy of the good. And I think this is a good first step and if we do need a friendly amendment for a review after twelve months, I don' know if I was a mover or a seconder but I'm happy to ... so let's add that provision to do a review after twelve months and if there's any changes, any unforeseen consequences anything we want to add or subtract we can do so at that time"
As the discussion came to and Council provided its approval of the Bylaw with the addition of the plan for a review of the bylaw in one year's time.
The full report for Council on the bylaw can be reviewed from the Monday Agenda starting on page 38.
As noted by the City Manager, Council also considered on Monday was a second bylaw which covered a range of topics from rental housing options to commercial themes and other miscellaneous themes.
That bylaw which does answer some of the concerns of the city's work on rental licensing regulations gained a first reading on Monday, the city plans an engagement process related to it for the public in the weeks ahead, as well they announced plans on Monday to hold a Public hearing on those proposed amendments.
You can review that document from the Monday agenda starting on page 55.
The culmination of Council's work on the Renoviction/Renal Bylaw can also be reviewed from the City website here, included in their information review is a summary of their work and a link to the full bylaw.
More notes on Housing in Prince Rupert can be explored from our Archive page here.
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