- Joined
- Mar 24, 2009
- Messages
- 16,743
When the city inspector came to check the basement suite at 239 Erin Meadow Close S. E., she didn`t check for leaky ceilings, unsafe windows or faulty wiring.
But she did find something that warranted shutting it down. She found kitchen cabinets, a countertop and a sink -- the telltale markings of a dwelling unit. And with no development permit granted for owner Deanna Oxtoby, that made it an illegal secondary suite.
The lack of safety concerns made no diff erence, nor did the roughly $30,000 of renovations Oxtoby said she did to upgrade the property. Rules were rules. Oxtoby had until last Dec. 1 to close it down.
"The inspector that came to look at it was like, `Oh, my god, it`s gorgeous. I can`t believe I have to make you rip this out,` " Oxtoby recalled.
It`s been said in studies and news reports that city hall turns a blind eye to the unchecked thousands of illegal secondary suites in Calgary. That`s not quite true.
Inspectors go in when a neighbour complains about a suite, and if they find a secondary dwelling and no city permit, the owner is found in violation of the land-use bylaw and must remove the kitchen.
The city has shut down 2,104 "illegal" secondary suites because of bylaw non-compliance -- not safety codes of any sort -- since 2004, its own statistics show.
That amounts to at least one closed suite a day, every day, for the past five years. Those figures raise concern among housing advocates, landlords and experts that Calgary is being counterproductive in its efforts to improve housing aff ordability.
The numbers also struck an alderman who is a strong supporter of the city`s 10-year strategy to end homelessness, which recommends the city actually create 2,000 "legal" suites in a decade.
"We`re going in the opposite direction," said Ald. Joe Ceci. He knew the city had a policy of closing the suites after complaints.
"I`m surprised at the total number. I`m surprised there`s that many people complaining. I thought it was getting better, that there was more of an acceptance of well-run secondary units throughout Calgary."
Read the full article here.
But she did find something that warranted shutting it down. She found kitchen cabinets, a countertop and a sink -- the telltale markings of a dwelling unit. And with no development permit granted for owner Deanna Oxtoby, that made it an illegal secondary suite.
The lack of safety concerns made no diff erence, nor did the roughly $30,000 of renovations Oxtoby said she did to upgrade the property. Rules were rules. Oxtoby had until last Dec. 1 to close it down.
"The inspector that came to look at it was like, `Oh, my god, it`s gorgeous. I can`t believe I have to make you rip this out,` " Oxtoby recalled.
It`s been said in studies and news reports that city hall turns a blind eye to the unchecked thousands of illegal secondary suites in Calgary. That`s not quite true.
Inspectors go in when a neighbour complains about a suite, and if they find a secondary dwelling and no city permit, the owner is found in violation of the land-use bylaw and must remove the kitchen.
The city has shut down 2,104 "illegal" secondary suites because of bylaw non-compliance -- not safety codes of any sort -- since 2004, its own statistics show.
That amounts to at least one closed suite a day, every day, for the past five years. Those figures raise concern among housing advocates, landlords and experts that Calgary is being counterproductive in its efforts to improve housing aff ordability.
The numbers also struck an alderman who is a strong supporter of the city`s 10-year strategy to end homelessness, which recommends the city actually create 2,000 "legal" suites in a decade.
"We`re going in the opposite direction," said Ald. Joe Ceci. He knew the city had a policy of closing the suites after complaints.
"I`m surprised at the total number. I`m surprised there`s that many people complaining. I thought it was getting better, that there was more of an acceptance of well-run secondary units throughout Calgary."
Read the full article here.