Quesnel City Council is considering a Safe Rental Housing Bylaw and Policy for Existing Secondary Suites.
Tanya Turner, the Director of Development Services, says the purpose of a Safe Rental Housing Bylaw is to prescribe standards for the maintenance of residential rental housing units…
“It is recommended that the bylaw deal with fundamental standards of livability that relate to health, safety or protection of persons and property. These typically deal with water and sanitation, heat, light, egress and security.”
Turner suggests that a policy for existing secondary suites focus on authorization rather than legalization.
She says they could be authorized following a visual inspection of the suite to determine that life safety standards are met and subject to zoning.
Turner says legalized generally means the whole suite would be deconstructed and rebuilt, generally leading to suites either remaining under the radar or disappearing because of the cost.
The dilemma there is there would be fewer quality rental housing units available in the City which is reportedly already a problem.
Staff will now prepare these policies for Council’s consideration.
That would be followed by public consultation.