Editor: Re: Burnaby council pulls demoviction propoposals from public hearing, NOW, June 25
I read with interest that city council has pulled two rezoning applications from the June 26 public hearing in order to ask the developers to consider placing more non-market, affordable housing in their new developments.
I am pleased to see council is using the powers available to them in order to work to protect and expand the affordable housing stock in Burnaby. We all understand that development has to continue to make room for the tens of thousands of new people who are expected to live in Burnaby.
This move to have developers include more non-market housing in their developments is the latest in a series of steps council has taken to make life more affordable for people living in Burnaby.
This follows after last year’s attempts to find partners to develop city-owned land for the purpose of creating more affordable housing; a policy that pleasantly surprised council with its quick success and demand from non-profit operators.
City council continues to show that they are willing to take on a leadership role to address the high cost of housing.
Every effort should be applauded for trying to make life more affordable, and hopefully these instructions to developers will continue in the future.
Trevor Ritchie, Burnaby
