Raise the Hammer

The city should be coming up with creative solutions to the problem of "illegal multi unit dwellings".

In short, the problem needs to be reframed: it is not their illegality under land-use bylaws that is a problem. The major problem is that some of these units are absolutely unsafe. Another (comparatively minor) problem is that the city is not realizing the correct property tax income for undeclared multi unit dwellings.

Rather than calling them illegal purely because of planning laws, new and existing properties should be evaluated based on safety. A new mantra could be to enforce the fire code and ignore the parking bylaw.

My proposal:

Offer a voluntary reporting program with incentives to participate. For instance, a landlord or homeowner can report that they own a single family zoned property that is being used as a multi family. The city will send an inspector for an evaluation of what needs to be done to bring the property up to minimum safety standards. The city then offers a grant for part of the upgrades and a low interest loan to cover any costs that go beyond the grant. After a follow up inspection, the grant/loan money is given to the land owner. The city then adds a loan payment to the property taxes. Once the loan is paid, the property tax gets re-adjusted to reflect that the home is now multi family.

This could be similar to how the lead pipe replacement program works (the city puts the cash up front and repayment is added to the tax bill).

Along the same lines as the lead pipe program, this would be an investment in the health and safety of our citizens - especially those on a fixed income who need cheap accommodations and tend to be an under-represented voice.

One long term benefit to the city is that the property taxes paid on these properties will rise to reflect the actual land use.

Another benefit is that the city's true density numbers get reported to the province, helping to ease the burden on building new units to achieve the minimum density requirements set forth by the province.

Comment edited by seancb on 2011-04-26 10:59:39