POLICY REPORT
URBAN STRUCTURE
Date: March 19, 2001
Author/Local: T.French/7041
RTS No. 01670
CC File No. 4654
CS&B: March 29, 2001
TO: |
Standing Committee on Planning and Environment |
FROM: |
The Director of Licenses, Inspections and Enforcement and Director of City Plans, in consultation with the Chief License Inspector, Chief Building Official, and Director of the Housing Centre |
SUBJECT: |
Secondary Suites Standards and Enforcement Review |
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council endorse the Secondary Suites Standards and Enforcement Review to be undertaken by a consultant in accordance with the Terms of Reference and Work Program contained in Appendix A, under the overall management of the Director of Licenses, Inspections and Enforcement and the Director of City Plans; and
B. THAT Council authorize funding of up to $135,000 for the consultant, with funds coming from the existing Community Services budget.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager RECOMMENDS approval of A and B.
COUNCIL POLICY
In recognition of the fact that secondary suites play an important role as affordable housing, as well as "mortgage helpers" for homeowners, Council approved a number of initiatives between 1986 and 1990 which together form the City policy on secondary suites.
In summary the City's Secondary suite policy is to:
· Allow family suites in all single family areas;
· Allow revenue suites in areas of the City that indicate they want them;
· Ensure that secondary suites meet basic safety and livability standards; and
· Enforce closure of illegal secondary suites in a gradual manner over time enforcing only on a complaint or safety basis.
PURPOSE & SUMMARY
The purpose of the report is to seek Council approval of a terms of reference and work program for a consultant to undertake a Secondary Suites Standards and Enforcement Review to remove barriers to the legalization of secondary suites.
The City's secondary suite policy is to allow suites to be legal in areas where residents supported them in polling, and to allow owners to take advantage of code upgrading standards specially adopted for secondary suites. Current enforcement policy is limited to voluntary legalization, complaint, and/or safety hazard. Despite the opportunity to be legal, a large number of suites in both old and new buildings are continuing undeclared and illegal. This creates issues of inequity of treatment amongst owners, uncertain safety, and difficulties in enforcement of maintenance standards.
The purposes of this review are to:
· identify standards which hinder the legalization of secondary suites; and
· improve enforcement of life-safety and related concerns.
The products of the Consultant Review will be:
· Directions for building, electrical, plumbing and gas standards;
· Directions on enforcement policy; and
· Draft revisions to standards by-laws.
Factors such as affordability, life safety, feasibility, and equity will be considered. The results of the review will be reported to Council. Following the review, implementation of the findings will be done through changes to by-laws and procedures, with reports back to Council as needed. This phase of the review will not address zoning which regulates where suites can be permitted. This can be considered after standards and enforcement issues are resolved.
Funding for the study is available from the existing CSG Operating Budget.
BACKGROUND
Secondary suites are both a form of affordable housing and a "mortgage helper" for homeowners. In 1989, the City began a secondary suites program which: allowed family suites to be legal everywhere; permitted rental suites in neighbourhoods which supported them; and put in place special secondary suite code upgrading standards in order to achieve a reasonable degree of safety. Current enforcement policy focusses on owners' voluntary registration under the program; and on taking action on complaint, and when a safety hazard is identified.
In July 8, 1999 Council considered a report which outlined the current status of secondary suites (available from the City Clerk and on City website at www.city.vancouver.bc.ca).
The key points in the report were:
· overall about 20% of the suites in the City have been legalized by their owners;
· new houses with suites in suite-zoned areas have a 64% registration rate, even though they should be readily legalizable;
· the registered 10 year phase out suites' terms are coming due, creating an inequitable situation where these owners would be required to close their suites despite having done some upgrading, while owners of other illegal unregistered suites would remain open;
· cost or feasibility of standards [e.g., required ceiling heights, sprinklering] may be a disincentive to owners' legalizing; as may be the fact that inspectors must report other unsafe conditions in the main house [e.g., lower than required handrails] leading to requirements for other improvements; and
· a range of issues exist in enforcement, including: difficulty in ensuring closed suites remain closed; inability to effectively enforce on pre-1956 buildings; and issues with neighbours.
These issues led Council to approve a number of recommendations including that the City "pursue ways to bring more secondary suites into legal conformity while also investigating more effective enforcement methods; and in the meantime allow phase-out suites whose permit expiry date comes up while this work is underway to remain in operation". Staff were asked to report back on a work program.
DISCUSSION
Appendix A sets out the recommended Consultant Terms of Reference and Work Program for a Secondary Suite Standards and Enforcement Review.
1. Terms of Reference and Work Program
a. Scope and Criteria
The Review will focus on two areas:
Standards
· a review of current city building code, plumbing, gas and electrical standards and policies for secondary suites. This will include addressing the level and consistency of standards, as well as looking at the recent secondary suite standards in the 1998 Provincial Building Code.
Enforcement
· a review of the current enforcement policy [voluntary, complaint, and/or safety hazard only] to determine whether, or in what circumstances, to vary it; and
· a review of specific issues in enforcement (on both suite as a use and on the standards).
In considering any changes to standards and enforcement practices, a number of criteria will be kept in mind including:
· feasibility-physical, technical, and/or legal;
· level of life-safety of occupants of suites and main units;
· effects on affordability of suites through conversion costs or change in supply of suites;
· equity and consistency of treatment for suite owners/tenants;
· proportion of suites likely to legalize;
· city legal liability; and
· non-recoverable costs to city.
The Review will not address the zoning which regulates where suites may occur. While recognizing that some people feel rental secondary suites should be permitted in all single family districts, Council's policy at the present time is to respect the wishes of the majority of residents in each area. The CityPlan Community Vision Program may identify areas which are interested in reconsidering the rental suite zoning in future. One option is to reconsider this question when all the mainly single family areas of the City have been "Visioned", anticipated to be by the end of 2005. In any event, any decision to extend opportunities for secondary suites will need to have first resolved issues around standards and enforcement. This is the purpose of this study.
b. Staffing and Roles
A consultant will undertake the Review work, including public consultation. The Review will be under the management of the Director of Licenses, Inspections and Enforcement and the Director of City Plans. A Technical Advisory Committee [TAC] will include staff from Licences, Building Code Review Group, Chief Building Official, Enforcement, Inspections, Legal Services, Planning and the Housing Centre.
c. Work Program and Schedule
The duration of the Review will depend on the consultant time commitment. The selected consultant will prepare a detailed work program, which will be conveyed to City Council when available.
After the Review, staff will report the findings to Council with recommended revisions to standards, enforcement practices, and procedures.
The three year withholding enforcement period for "Phase Out" suites currently ends on July 7, 2002. If this deadline needs to be extended it will be reported to Council.
2. Funding
Staff estimate the total cost of the study could be up to $135,000. The exact figure would be based on consultant proposals. Funding is available from within existing budgets.
CONCLUSION
The City's secondary suite policy is to allow suites to be legal under the zoning in areas that supported them, and to allow owners to take advantage of special secondary suite code upgrading standards. Despite this, many homeowners have not taken advantage of the opportunity to legalize suites. The Secondary Suites Standards and Enforcement Review will reexamine standards, remove barriers to legalization, and address enforcement issues.
* * * * *
APPENDIX A
SECONDARY SUITES STANDARDS AND ENFORCEMENT REVIEW
CONSULTANT TERMS OF REFERENCE AND WORK PROGRAM
I. Objective
The Council-approved objective of the Review is "to pursue ways to bring more secondary suites into legal conformity while also investigating more effective enforcement methods." This will be done by reexamining standards and removing barriers to the legalization of secondary suites.
II. Products
1. Directions for changes to standards (Building and Trades By-laws) to be forwarded for Council Adoption;
2. Directions on general Enforcement Policy, and on which specific enforcement issues should be addressed through future changes in procedures to be forwarded for Council Adoption; and
3. Draft text changes to the relevant standards by-laws.
The scope of the Consultant work does not include taking by-law changes through Council adoption, or implementing changes to enforcement procedures. These steps will be undertaken by staff.
III. Scope and Criteria for the Review
The Review will focus on two areas which are interrelated.
1. Standards
· a review of current city building code, plumbing, gas and electrical standards and policies for secondary suites. This will include addressing the level and consistency of standards, taking into account the new secondary suite standards in the 1999 Provincial Building Code.
2. Enforcement
· a review of current enforcement policy [voluntary, complaint, and/or safety hazard only] to determine whether, or in what circumstances, to vary it; and
· a review of specific enforcement issues [on both suite as a use, and on the standards].
In assessing standards and enforcement policy, the following criteria will be considered:
· feasibility - physical, technical, and/or legal;
· level of life-safety of occupants of suites and main units;
· effects on affordability of suites through conversion costs or change in supply of suites;
· equity and consistency in effect on suite owners/tenants;
· proportion of suites likely to legalize;
· city legal liability; and
· non-recoverable costs to city.
Any changes to the Building By-law recommended from this study will be coordinated with recommendations for changes to our By-law provisions for the upgrading of existing buildings. Currently in preparation by the Chief Building Official, these changes are being designed to reflect the primary objectives of the Building By-law and thus to harmonise with the objective code structure developed by the National Research Council.
There are a number of topics related to suites which this Review will not be addressing:
· The current zoning regulations which specify which types of suite may be allowed, and where; requirements for internal access between the main unit and the suite; and limitations on the number of entrances;
· The current policy which disallows strata-titling of secondary suites; and
· The current policy which disallows second legal addresses for secondary suites.
IV. Staffing and Roles
Consultant
The consultant will be responsible for the work in the Steps and Tasks outlined below, including conducting public consultation. The consultant may engage sub-consultants to provide assistance with aspects of the study such as costing or public consultation.
Staff Technical Advisory Committee [TAC]
A staff group comprised of the appropriate senior staff from Licences, Building Code Review Group, Chief Building Official, Enforcement, Inspections, Legal Services, Planning and the Housing Centre will form a Technical Advisory Committee [TAC]. It will provide internal review and advice on proposed Directions. It will also ensure staff of their groups provide information and advice as needed.
Responsible City Managers
The Review will be under the authority of the Director of Licenses, Inspections and Enforcement [who will chair the TAC] and the Director of City Plans.
Staff Liaison
A staff person from Licences, Inspections and Enforcement will serve as the day-to-day contact for the consultant, as well as organizing TAC meetings.
V. Steps and Tasks
1. Start Up
a. Review background information;
b. Detail work program; and
c. Brief Technical Advisory Committee on work program.
2. Research
a. Current building and trades standards for suites:
· documentation of issues in standards (e.g., ceiling heights, sprinklering requirements, separate electrical panel, acoustic separation, cost/time for covenant on strata, requirement to correct existing safety problems in existing main building);
· comparison of CoV standards vs. BC 1999 standards for secondary suites; and
· update on any current BCRB work on building by-law for existing/older buildings.
b. Current enforcement policies and practices:
· review of current enforcement policies and practices on suite use and upgrading requirements (e.g., inspections for safety deficiencies in existing houses; enforcement on pre-1956 buildings and moratorium suites; inspection consistency).
c. Other municipalities' standards
· limited review of other municipalities' code standards; enforcement philosophy and practices, concentrating on readily available information.
d. Assemble Related Background Information
· assemble available information to answer questions that will arise during the course of the public consultation, but which are not the subject of this study (e.g., impact of suites on assessed values and taxes collected; payment for services; water, garbage, sewer chargesetc.; profile of suite residents including income levels, quantity of complaints about suites before and after 1986-1990 changes to City policy).
3. Draft and Evaluate Standards Directions
a. Draft Directions for various buildings/trades standards issues. In some cases there may be options; and
b. Evaluate (see criteria above); review with TAC; revise.
4. Draft and Evaluate Enforcement Policy Directions
a. Draft options for overall enforcement policy: e.g., stay with voluntary/complaint/safety only; actively enforce but on a few illegal suites each year; actively and broadly enforce on illegal suites; have a different level of enforcement on illegal triplexes;
b. Evaluate (see criteria above); review with TAC; revise;
c. Identify which specific enforcement issues should be solved, and how (in general terms): e.g., how to handle Phase Out suites; how to provide ongoing public information on suite legalization; whether to have higher fines or penalties; and
d. Evaluate (see criteria above); review with TAC; revise.
5. Public Review of Draft Standards Directions and Enforcement Policy Directions
a. Convey Draft Directions to Council (receive for information);
b. Conduct public review of Draft Directions, consulting owners, builders, and the general public through open houses, meetings and surveys as necessary; and
c. Assemble comments.
6. Council Endorsation of Standards and Enforcement Policy Directions
a. Revise Draft Directions as necessary based on public review; and
b. Prepare report for Council's consideration of Standards and Enforcement Policy Directions.
7. Draft By-law Changes
a. Draft text changes to standards by-laws, for future refinement by staff and adoption by City Council.
VI. Schedule
The duration of the Review will depend on the consultant time commitment, and time required for internal reviews of draft proposals by city staff. The selected consultant will prepare a detailed work program, which will be conveyed to City Council when available.