A move to address low rental vacancy rates in Campbell River is now in the hands of council members.
Councillors will vote on the first reading tonight of a bylaw amendment that will allow secondary suites in all single-family residences.
In 2013, there were an estimated 350 legal suites and 250 illegal suites in Campbell River.
The City’s rental vacancy rate in 2013 was 7.5 per cent.
Despite the 211 new apartment units constructed between 2013 and 2018, the vacancy rate has dropped to 0.5 percent.
The city’s acting manager of long-range planning Chris Osborne said the bylaw is a response to the issue Campbell River has with a historically low vacancy rate.
“For anyone looking for rental accommodation in Campbell River, the options are really limited,” he said. “Suites are obviously part of the supply of small unit rental accommodations. So by allowing them more broadly in the city, we should hopefully contribute to relieving some of the pressure on the limited rental stock.”
Osborne noted there are zones already that allow secondary suites but they are scattered around the city.
“The most predominant zone is our Residential 1 Zone and that has the lion’s share of properties. That zone does not allow them, so anyone who is in that zone that wants a suite will have to make a rezoning application to one of the other zones that do allow it,” Osborne said.
Osborne said the next step would be public consultation “to ensure that everyone would get their say.”
The plan includes three open houses in August and September, a review by the city’s advisory planning committee, and an online questionnaire on the city’s website.
“So there will be a good period of time for people in a variety of formats to give their feedback and then we’ll be taking that back to Council probably in October, and at that point they can consider giving second reading to the bylaw and review all of the comments they’ve received from the public at that time,” Osborne said.
Currently, there are approximately 153 additional multi-family units under construction, and 337 potential units under review by the City.
While the rise in housing prices has slowed in recent months, the average price of a single-family home in Campbell River as of May 2019 was $475,832.
In 2013 that figure was $249,000. While the cost of the average house in Campbell River almost doubled in six years, average household income rose by eight per cent over that time.
Osborne said parking is often a concern but noted that zoning requirements for any legal suite is that at least one off-street parking space has to be provided.
“So in order to have a legal suite you have to be able to accomodate that additional vehicle on the property,” he added. “So we know from contact with other municipalities that virtually all of the complaints about parking in suites come from illegal suites where the parking hasn’t been provided.”
The bylaw amendment could be put in place as early as November, Osborne said.
