One Burnaby city councillor was singing a different tune this week, calling on the city and developers to do more to help displaced renters.
Nick Volkow urged his fellow councillors to consider revisiting the city’s tenants’ assistance policy during a discussion regarding Polygon Development’s proposed redevelopment of several lots in the Metrotown area, on Dunblane and Marlborough avenues. On the table is a 38-storey apartment building plus street-oriented townhouses. If approved, seven existing buildings on the sites would be torn down to make way for the new tower and townhomes.
In its proposal, the developer has included a plan where tenants would get at least three months’ notice to vacate and three months’ rent as compensation to help cover moving costs, which is in line with the city’s own policy. Any tenants who’ve lived in the buildings for three or more years would be offered the following additional compensation: $600 per year for three to five years of residency; $800 per year for six to 10 years of residency; and $1,000 per year for 11 or more years of residency, according to a staff report.
Volkow, however, questioned if that’s really enough, considering some developers are willing to pay much more than asking price to buy property in the city.
“When I look around I see various developers who have absolutely no problem offering four or five times the assessed value,” he said. “They seem to have no problem coming up with millions of dollars to secure a property.”
Volkow asked staff to return before the scheduled Sept. 20 public hearing with information on current rents paid by tenants of the buildings and what developers are actually offering them when tenants are given their eviction notice.
“We might be a little too generous to the development community when it comes to what we’re expecting,” Volkow said.
