Nenshi to move on secondary suites

[MichelSelim]

Nenshi to move on secondary suites

He campaigned on it, and now Mayor Naheed Nenshi is vowing to keep his pledge to allow secondary suites throughout Calgary, breaking through what`s long been a policy logjam on council.

Nenshi repeatedly lambasted aldermen on this issue when he was a newspaper commentator. To him, easing the zoning restrictions would give a long-overdue boost to affordable housing and provide some legal rights to tenants in the tens of thousands of unregulated basement or backyard units in the city.

"Many of my fellow members of council are terrified of this," he told a Chamber of Commerce luncheon crowd Thursday.

"They`re more scared of this than anything else, because they`re worried that their existing neighbourhoods will be ruined."

The mayor didn`t suggest a timeline on his plans but signalled he wants reform soon.

"What I propose is that we legalize them immediately, one fell swoop in every neighbourhood in the city, subject to some very basic conditions," he said.

Those include following safety and fire codes, ensuring all suites far from transit stations have parking spaces, and that homeowners live in houses with legal suites — a provision that city lawyers have cautioned against, Nenshi said.

Post-secondary students, among the most common secondary suited wellers, are among the most eager to see this issue finally resolved under Nenshi.

"He`s the leader of city hall, and I think his support is big when it comes to us," said Hardave Birk, external vice-president of the University of Calgary`s students` union.

The issue has bitterly divided council in the past, and rezoning bids often resulted in 8-to-7 votes that Nenshi has routinely criticized.

Ald. Dale Hodges said he`s steadfast in his concern that Calgarians who bought into a neighbourhood of single-family houses want to keep it that way.

"It`s not a question of courage. . . . It`s about principle," he said.

 

[RedlineBrett]

Saw this on the news this morning and I think it`s great news for investors, particularly REIN members. Those of us that keep nice suites will be able to market them appropriately and we won`t have to fear tenants `dropping a dime` on us with city hall if things do go sideways.

This, along with city grants and mortgages that permit renovations (adding a suite) will make it much easier for investors to take advantage of excellent locations where the only available product is single family houses or condos.

 

[gwasser]

QUOTE (RedlineBrett @ Nov 19 2010, 01:31 PM) Saw this on the news this morning and I think it`s great news for investors, particularly REIN members. Those of us that keep nice suites will be able to market them appropriately and we won`t have to fear tenants `dropping a dime` on us with city hall if things do go sideways.

This, along with city grants and mortgages that permit renovations (adding a suite) will make it much easier for investors to take advantage of excellent locations where the only available product is single family houses or condos.

I don`t mind secondary suits. But typically renters are young people either studying or on their first jobs. They are in my experience a disproportional source of late night parties that cause neighbours who have to get up the next morning early a lot of discomfort. I know this from personal experience.

Dialing 311 and waiting for the police to show up 2 hrs later is not much help. Especially when once the police is gone the party continues. The only weapon of significant teeth is being able to file the `illegal suit` complaint and even then units are not necessary closed down even if they are obviously illegal. Also parking is definitely an issue. Not only because of the secondary suites but also because in the inner city smaller single family homes being replaced by infills and three unit condos. The much higher population density in those situations causes often parking problems.

So, unless the city would offer a satisfactory solution for these issues, I would be against opening up all zones for secondary suites without distinction. Yes there are definitely opportunities for REIN members to benefit from resolving this issue. But they will have to deal with the trouble they cause to adjacent owners. Unless you run a tight ship you will get some very angry neigbours that will spare no means of blocking you from renting out to noisy tenants; neither do they want to see every three months a new neighbour-tenant. Thus, I am against a blanket approval for secondary suits.

I suggest an election by ward or a community survey regarding allowing 2ndary suits might be better. It is not only landlords and their tenants that have a stake in this.

 

[wgraham]

There are few Calgary residences who want densification. They have their big trucks and my god it is their right to drive it! "God this traffic sucks!" will be their next statement. However,it IS a good thing for the city and the environment. Yes parking will be an issue but if we can actually provide real public transit and use it then everyone wins with a shorter commute to where-ever you are going and cheaper housing costs.

YYC needs to get out of the dark ages and quit sprawling all over Alberta!

I am going to be a little bit of a devils advocate on this being a good thing for investors however. This will drive down rents with more availability of product. Yes my risks of getting a unit shut down will go down but.....

 

[RedlineBrett]

QUOTE (gwasser @ Nov 19 2010, 02:33 PM) I suggest an election by ward or a community survey regarding allowing 2ndary suits might be better. It is not only landlords and their tenants that have a stake in this.

Local members and community surveys will almost never support greater densification of their communities particularly amongst single family homeowners in areas the city wants to see greater zoning in, even though it may be in the best interests of the taxpayer for their community to see development like this. If you have R2 zoning you should be able to plunk a secondary suite in with a lot less red tape. I can definitely see the issue if the community is an R1, because the municipality hasn`t agreed to spend the money on the infrastructure required to densify this area yet.

The city wants want less development in the suburbs and more inner-city. Costs taxpayers less to upgrade existing infrastructure than it does to create and service new stuff near the city limits. This was a big reason the city has pushed for Area Redevelopment Plans (ARPs) for several areas including westbrook mall and the west lrt. So moving forward with secondary suites is just an extension of this plan.

 

[RedlineBrett]

QUOTE (wgraham @ Nov 19 2010, 03:23 PM) I am going to be a little bit of a devils advocate on this being a good thing for investors however. This will drive down rents with more availability of product. Yes my risks of getting a unit shut down will go down but.....

I don`t think it`s going to drive down your rents wade. Those secondary suites are already out there. Sure there will eventually be more of them but stepping out of the shadows you will be able to show your suites off more and you`ll get greater respect from the tenant base.

Also, when you go to sell you`ll have a much bigger buyer pool as there won`t be the `illegal suite` ball and chain around your neck anymore.

 

[gwasser]

QUOTE (RedlineBrett @ Nov 19 2010, 03:23 PM) Local members and community surveys will almost never support greater densification of their communities particularly amongst single family homeowners in areas the city wants to see greater zoning in, even though it may be in the best interests of the taxpayer for their community to see development like this. If you have R2 zoning you should be able to plunk a secondary suite in with a lot less red tape. I can definitely see the issue if the community is an R1, because the municipality hasn`t agreed to spend the money on the infrastructure required to densify this area yet.


If you buy in R1 then most people do not wish to accidentally end up in a secondary suite community. Why would you pay for 1 family per residence and then end up with 2 families? Yes affordable housing is important but not at the expense of people that bought specifically for not having more that 1 family per residence. In the inner city, many properties are valued at $1 million plus and I don`t think buyers pay that money to end up besides an illegal 4-plex with high rental turnover and mid summer night boozing events.

Hence the community should have a say in this. I don`t like illegal suites, their adherence to safety and building codes are tough to enforce. Then you see things happen as in the basement fire a couple of years ago in West Hillhurst with 2 kids burned to death.

Legalizing these units would definitely be a positive, but it should not be forced on neighborhoods whose inhabitants paid for single residences. To be honest, there such 2ndary suites should be shut down because the few are making it bad for the many. If a zoning is R1 but their are numerous existing 2ndary suites, legalizing them is probably a good thing. But it all depends on the situation and zoning of a neighbourhood. A blanket legalizing city wide is not desirable.

 

[wealthyboomer]

QUOTE (gwasser @ Nov 22 2010, 12:36 PM) If you buy in R1 then most people do not wish to accidentally end up in a secondary suite community. Why would you pay for 1 family per residence and then end up with 2 families? Yes affordable housing is important but not at the expense of people that bought specifically for not having more that 1 family per residence. In the inner city, many properties are valued at $1 million plus and I don`t think buyers pay that money to end up besides an illegal 4-plex with high rental turnover and mid summer night boozing events.

Hence the community should have a say in this. I don`t like illegal suites, their adherence to safety and building codes are tough to enforce. Then you see things happen as in the basement fire a couple of years ago in West Hillhurst with 2 kids burned to death.

Legalizing these units would definitely be a positive, but it should not be forced on neighborhoods whose inhabitants paid for single residences. To be honest, there such 2ndary suites should be shut down because the few are making it bad for the many. If a zoning is R1 but their are numerous existing 2ndary suites, legalizing them is probably a good thing. But it all depends on the situation and zoning of a neighbourhood. A blanket legalizing city wide is not desirable.

Totally Agree.

 

[bizaro86]

QUOTE (gwasser @ Nov 22 2010, 12:36 PM) I don`t like illegal suites, their adherence to safety and building codes are tough to enforce. Then you see things happen as in the basement fire a couple of years ago in West Hillhurst with 2 kids burned to death.


I think the city should have a more reasonable set of rules, and then enforce them vigorously. If that means XX number of suite permits allowed per block in R1 zoning, I`m okay with that. (And I`m someone who specifically looked up and bought a house with R1 zoning for my personal residence).

The flip side of this is to allow more suites, but vigorously enforce the zoning and safety rules. The situation as it stands currently is basically a wild-west. If the rules were clear, reasonable, and rationally enforced, everyone would benefit. Investors would have certainty, neighbours would have more responsible landlord/tenants in their midst, and tenants would have safer and better quality accomodations to choose from.

Michael