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Burnaby council basement plan would strain our street's parking

Editor: Re: Burnaby council’s stand-alone initiative to make big houses bigger. Please help, my fellow citizens of Burnaby. I believe that this initiative of council under our new mayor and the old council is to make big houses bigger.
parking

Editor:

Re: Burnaby council’s stand-alone initiative to make big houses bigger.

Please help, my fellow citizens of Burnaby.

I believe that this initiative of council under our new mayor and the old council is to make big houses bigger. This means a big change to our city bylaws and to do this as a stand-alone initiative is shameful.  This council did reject a proposal to do a comprehensive look at bylaw changes for housing. There are other and better ways to make more affordable housing in our city, both market and rental.

If people with the biggest houses do not already have suites then I do not think that they really want suites. They just want bigger houses. I absolutely do not agree with this.

The biggest houses can be subdivided and made into multiple, independent addresses. We can change bylaws to allow laneway houses. Smaller lot sizes can be approved for building more duplexes and to allow smaller homes. This means more dwellings and not just bigger houses.

Then there are other potential issues with the “bigger house” initiative. Many current houses, once their basement area is not included in their square footage and the houses were not built to the maximum footprint allowed (just the maximum square footage), they can add outbuildings, sheds, workshops.

This will change our neighborhoods. Do you know that fence heights are restricted to something under six feet in height? Your neighbour can still build a long, skinny shed and make a 12-foot wall beside your yard.                                                                                                                                                                          Laneway houses, maybe, but these are not included in this little initiative to make big houses bigger and council declined to look at this as part of the possible bylaw change.

And there is parking. My street has very limited parking. Will the people with the big houses be made to put extra parking on their property? Do driveways count or do they need to add extra actual parking spaces?

I would be happy if my home were crowded a bit with duplexes and smaller houses, with more real housing for renters and for young people and immigrants trying to get into the housing market.

We need both rental housing and market housing. We need both affordable to young families.

We do not need to make big houses bigger. 

This is a shameful stand-alone initiative.

Leslie Zenger, Burnaby