Information meeting on Zoning Bylaw amendment for Secondary Suites
Posted: 2008/08/19

The District of Sechelt invites interested members of the public to an information meeting on a proposed zoning bylaw amendment introducing secondary suites (as part of the affordable housing strategy).

Time of Meeting: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Date of Meeting: Thursday, September 4, 2008
Place of Meeting: Community Meeting Room, Library Building, 5797 Cowrie Street

Background
Council has indicated an interest in introducing secondary suites in Sechelt. Staff has done research and has formulated a zoning bylaw amendment with implementation policy as outlined below.

Why introduce secondary suites?
Introducing secondary suites is an explicit goal of the Affordable Housing Strategy in the Official Community Plan. Secondary suites provide a form of affordable rental accommodation which is in high demand because of the high cost of housing on the Sunshine Coast. The Affordable Housing Strategy calls for protection and promotion of affordable housing in the existing housing supply. Currently, Sechelt may have around 350 (illegal) rental suites. This is a conservative estimate based on MLS.ca real estate listings in the area.

Zoning Bylaw Amendment
The attached proposed zoning bylaw amendment incorporates secondary suites as an allowed use to the Zoning Bylaw. The amendment will allow secondary suites in single family dwellings only (following BC Building Code definition for a Secondary Suite).

How to deal with existing suites?
We believe that existing suites are typically not compliant with BC Building Code requirements. Significant safety and/or health issues may be present because fire separation, entrance and exiting options, fire alarms, may not have been built properly. Furthermore, for any suite, new or existing, consideration has to be given to issues such as parking, owner occupancy requirement, additional service fees, location, etc. An implementation program for Sechelt is outlined below.

Proposed Implementation Program  
A permanent secondary suites registry and a two-year program for upgrading existing suites are proposed as the main components of the implementation program. The overarching goals for this approach are:

• to stimulate, protect affordable housing in the existing housing supply by allowing suites where certain criteria can be met (servicing / fees / parking / no nuisance)
• to improve the health and safety level in existing rental suites up to the level of the BC Building Code by actively pursuing that existing suites are brought up to code

The implementation program is scheduled to take two years and consists of two parts.

• Permanent registry of all suites. All homeowners will be informed and have the opportunity to register. Bylaw enforcement will actively investigate unregistered suites and a fine may be applied if an owner failed to register.
• Upgrading / closure of existing illegal suites in the first two years. Every homeowner has two years after the notification to upgrade of close an existing illegal suite. Upgrading will require a building permit. A free start up inspection to determine deficiencies for existing suites is provided for registered suites.

This program would require between 1 and 2 additional full time staff (enforcement and building inspector capacity) for the first two years of the program. This would be funded by a cost recovery fee for the registry, building permit fees and proceeds from fines.

The draft Zoning Bylaw amendment is available here. For more information please contact André Boel, Community Planner, Tel: 604-885-1986, e-mail: aboel@sechelt.ca