A crackdown on illegal secondary suites in Coquitlam has displaced tenants and led to an increase in the number of building bylaw fines issued by the municipality, according to a city staff person.
Stephanie James, acting director of legal and bylaw enforcement, told The Tri-City News some people were forced to find new housing as a result of the enforcement effort, but said no data has been kept to track the exact number.
She added the city works with property owners to bring impermissible suites into compliance and that evicting tenants is seen as a last resort.
“The primary goal of the city’s suite enforcement program is to prevent illegal suites from being established in the first place,” she said. “When impermissible or unsafe building conditions are found, they are addressed with the potential impact on tenants in mind and with the goal of as little displacement as possible.”
During Monday’s council-in-committee meeting, she said bylaw officers work “to make sure that the repercussions are felt by the property owners and not by the tenants.”
The number of fines issued under the city’s building bylaw rose from 43 in 2016 to 63 in 2017, with 47 tickets related to impermissible suites.
In most cases, James said, property owners simply need to apply for the appropriate building permits and ensure there is available parking to be in compliance with the city’s bylaws.
In other instances, the changes required for a suite to be lawful are more significant.
For example, additional cooking facilities and locking doors separating units are often found in homes with impermissible suites, which must be removed, James said. Bylaw officers give property owners a long time frame to bring their suites up to code, she added.
190 MORE TICKETS RELATED TO BEARS
Bear issues led to a rise in the number of solid waste management bylaw infractions in Coquitlam, which rose from 243 in 2016 to 431 last year.
James said the increase is attributed to an enforcement effort aimed at ensuring residents keep their garbage and animal attractants secured on their property. Boulevard maintenance tickets also increased, which she said was due to the heavy snowfall in early 2017.
But not all bylaw enforcement categories saw a rise in the number of fines issued last year.
Street and traffic tickets decreased from 18,799 in 2016 to 17,613 in 2017, according to a staff report, which James said is a sign “people are acclimatizing to the new parking regulations associated with Evergreen.”
She also noted that animal care and control tickets were down to 514 last year from the previous 627.
“A lot of that has to with the success of the Train Your Human campaign over the last few years,” she said, noting the city’s program encouraging dog owners to clean up after their pets and keep the animals on a leash in public places. “We were in parks a lot.”
