Should the City of North Vancouver preserve all the rental opportunities in Lower Lonsdale? How about the rentals around Victoria Park?
Council may be soon be answering those questions following a unanimous vote May 9 that tasked city staff with investigating how the city might use the newest tool available to municipalities: rental-only zoning.
Monday’s motion is intended to dovetail with forthcoming provincial legislation that gives municipalities the authority to forbid developers from redeveloping a rental property into a strata or condo building.
“If the property is redeveloped, it must be redeveloped for rental,” Bell said.
As prices for condos and single-family homes have catapulted, rentals have become: “the only affordable housing option for many residents and families,” noted Coun. Don Bell, who put forward the motion.
However, there are limits to the city’s ability to aid in the affordability crisis, Bell noted, explaining that old, relatively inexpensive rental could still be redeveloped into expensive market rental.
Bell’s motion is timely, according to Coun. Rod Clark, who noted the assortment of three-storey walk-ups in Lower Lonsdale that are: “coming to the end of their useful economic life.”
“The pressure will be on for those to be upgraded either into condominiums for sale or increased density and rental.”
Clark previously asked council to reserve 20 per cent of the units in new developments for low-cost rentals.
The provincial legislation, which recently had its first reading in parliament, also allows municipalities to zone undeveloped land for rental housing or to maintain a number or percentage of units in a mixed development for rental.
The city report is scheduled to come back to council in late summer or early fall.
Coun. Craig Keating did not attend the meeting.
