Mr. Ed Kozak, Deputy Director
Planning and Building, provided the Task Force with an overview of policy
work that Council has requested in the last year. Mr. Kozak spoke to the
following policies that staff are currently reviewing:
·
Homelessness
Response
– establishing four warming centres, exploring opportunities for year-round
shelters.
·
Tenant
Assistance Policy Review
– review of this policy to ensure that tenants receive the required
assistance and find new homes.
·
Standards
of Maintenance Policy Review – best practices for multi-family residential bylaws
for rental properties.
·
Rental
Replacement Policy
– reviewing policies for 1:1 replacement of rental units lost to
redevelopment with replacement rents at the same or similar rental rates.
·
Inclusionary
Rental –
for rental in new multi-family developments in community plan areas.
·
Rezoning
of Existing Rental Review
– reviewing the potential to rezone properties with existing purpose-built
rental buildings to a corresponding RM ‘r’ rental zone district.
·
Rental
in Commercial Districts – Guidelines – reviewing guidelines for the
application of permitted use of commercial floor area for market rental
housing.
·
Accessory
Units in Two-Family Dwellings – reviewing accessory dwelling units in two-family
dwellings.
·
Accessory
Dwelling Units in Single and Two-Family Districts – reviewing the potential for
accessory dwelling units (laneway, carriage homes, garden suites, and
additional units) in single-family and two-family districts.
·
Cellar
floor Area Review
– Burnaby is advancing text amendments to permit construction of full cellars
with suite-ready construction in specified districts.
·
Short-Term
Rental Review
– reviewing approaches for regulating short-term rentals.
The floor was opened to questions by
the Task Force members. The following were questions fielded by City staff:
·
How
is staff juggling the priority housing policies vs. the policy mandates of
other areas?
·
Evictions
due to demovictions or renovictions – does Burnaby track this? And if not,
can it be done? How does New Westminster track demovictions and renovictions?
·
What
is inclusionary rental?
·
Has
the City considered micro/tiny homes? Would any City policies in motion allow
for these types of homes?
·
Transition
and Supportive Housing and Market Supportive Housing – noticed there are no
policies in those categories. Why is this?
·
Inclusionary
rentals, why is this limited to community plan areas?
·
Please
expand on rental in commercial districts – guidelines. And what areas would
this apply to?
·
Is
there any policy to waive fees for rental and non-market rental development, similar
to the City of Vancouver’s Rental 100?
·
Concerned
about loss of industrial land to housing through mixed use, will polices protect
industrial and business land?
·
Regarding
mixed use - concerned about housing impact on industrial land and the impact
on land value while also recognizing that businesses need a local labour
force.
·
How
does development or the addition of amenities impact the gentrification of an
area and has the City looked into this?
·
Is
there another level of government that could be an ally in housing e.g.
School Board under the School Act -can build housing for teachers and unused
units can be rented?
·
Have
the post-secondary institutes in Burnaby reduced the numbers of on-site
student housing? Is the City working with the SFU to help them come up with additional
student housing.
·
When
thinking about adding new supply, most land is occupied already, under any of
the policies in motion, is there discussion to incentivize non-profit land
owners to densify their land?
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