Dear Editor:
It is important to acknowledge when our leaders make a good decision, even if that decision is made to avoid potential embarrassment that may lie around the corner. With that said, I commend city council for adopting a tenant assistance plan.
According to the Now, under the plan the city will require certain conditions be met before a rezoning application is granted. If the rezoning involves a demolition of an apartment with six or more suites, the developer will need to give tenants three months' notice and three months' rental compensation. This is better than the provincial legislation, which requires tenants receive two months' notice, and the landlord must give the tenant the equivalent of one month’s rent on or before the effective date of the notice.
Sadly for renters, the bylaw will not apply to demolitions where a rezoning application is not required. For this, the provincial statute would apply. However, such replacement developments are rare as the profit margins are smaller. With city help, a replacement of a 50-year-old three-storey walk-up with a modern four- or five-storey wood frame structure could be a more affordable option for renters and buyers than a suite in a 40-storey glass and steel construction.
Unfortunately, this teneant assistance plan is only a partial victory for renters’ rights and does not address the neighbourhood’s concerns about the loss of more affordable rental units. The Now reported that rental units in Metrotown, according to Councillor Jordan, have increased in total by 300 over the past five years. According to the CMHA reports available online, there were 6,425 private apartment units in the Metrotown/Central Park Zone in 2009. In 2014, that number declined to 6158 units - a loss of 267 units.
One glimmer of hope was that the number of three-bedroom apartments stayed constant over that period.
Our local government is playing fast and loose with the numbers and, without an elected opposition, it is up to organizations like the Metrotown Residents’ Association and the Social Housing Alliance to keep it honest, ask tough questions and provide ideas.
Another factor worth pondering is the population growth that has taken place in Metrotown, which the city seems to ignore. When the public wants quick statistics on Maywood, the city provides outdated statistics. It is remarkable that the neighbourhood’s population increased by 63 per cent between 1986 and 2006, but perhaps more relevant today is that between 2006 and 2011 (prior to the new towers) that population increased by another 31.8 percent.
This is exponential growth, yet services such as the library and Bonsor Rec Centre have not kept pace.
The city’s policy of dumping density in Metrotown in exchange for cash is killing a culturally, socially and economically diverse community. Maywood is not a “ghetto." It is not a “mistake” that needs to be fixed. It is a neighbourhood that has potential. The people - the families - that are forced out of their homes not only need to be respected and compensated, they also need housing alternatives that will allow them to stay in the community and continue to contribute.
The city needs a plan for Metrotown now, and they need to consult meaningfully with the people currently living there.
Rick McGowan, Burnaby
