ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date:December 5, 1995
Dept.File No.2178AIC.COV
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Assistant Director of Permits and Licenses
SUBJECT: Secondary Suite Program
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT the 13 Secondary Suite Program staff positions be extended
as follows:
i. Seven positions to be made permanent.
ii. Three inspector positions be extended until June 30,
1996.
iii. Three clerical positions be extended until June 30, 1997.
B. THAT the $10.00 special inspection fee be changed to $83.00
where the application is made within 60 days of notification.
C. THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to bring
forward the necessary by-law amendments.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the
foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
In November, 1994, Council approved the extension of 13 Secondary Suite
Program staff positions until December 31, 1995 to allow completion of the
notification process in all RS-1 and RS-1S zoned neighbourhoods.
Recommendations for increased staff or enhanced programs are to be offset
by corresponding spending reductionsor by increasesin non-taxationrevenue.
PURPOSE
To provide an update on the Secondary Suite Program, and to recommend the
retention of seven permanent and six temporary positions to process the
ongoing influx of complaints, inspections and suite permit applications,
and to provide a group of experienced staff to maintain overall service
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levels during process redesign.
BACKGROUND
In the fall of 1986 and early 1987, Council established the present
direction for the suite review program. This included restricting the
development of secondary kitchens, allowing family suites and the approval
for the Joyce Station area "pilot project". On December 15, 1987, the
amendments to the Zoning and Development By-law for a new RS-1S district
schedule were approved. Subsequently, the Planning Department has carried
out neighbourhood reviews and reported the results to Council. These
reviews have resulted in the rezoning of approximately half of the RS-1
areas to RS-1S zoning.
On July 14 1988, Council approved a City Manager's report which outlined
the staffing needs for implementation of the suite enforcement program in
the Joyce Station area. These 12 positions were filled during the first
six months of 1989.
On November 30, 1989, Council authorized 11 additional staff (total of 23
positions) to implement the Secondary Suite Program in all RS-1 and RS-1S
zoned neighbourhoods. In October 1991, Council reduced the number of
staff to 18, and approved these positions until December 31, 1994. As
part of the budget review process in 1993 and 1994, further reductions to
the present 13 were implemented.
In November 1994, the 13 positions were further approved by Council until
December 31, 1995, in order to complete the notification process.
Staffing levels are shown in Appendix A.
PROGRAM STATUS
On August 1, 1995, Secondary Suite Program staff completed the
notification process for the last area -- the Dunbar/Kerrisdale
neighbourhood. Applications continue to come in from this area as well as
the previously notified areas. The bulk of the work in the previous areas
is related to dealing with suite complaints, permit issuance and follow-up
inspections, as well as monitoring short term phase-out suites which are
due to expire.
Up to September 30, 1995, a total of 4,165 Special Inspection Applications
have been received, resulting in 2,874 Development Permits being issued
for short and long-term retention of suites.
There are currently 60 applications waiting for inspections and many other
applications are still being processed, with owners obtaining estimates
and deciding which option to choose. Appendix B shows the program
statistics by neighbourhood. While the initial notification process has
been completed in all neighbourhoods, staff continue to process the
ongoing special inspections and follow-ups of existing and new permits, as
well as the inevitable complaints.
STAFFING
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Between January 1993 and September 1995, this department has received a
total of 2,079 complaints regarding illegal suites. Approximately 75% of
these complaints have been referred to the Secondary Suite Program for
enforcement letters and subsequent follow-ups. Over this period, staff
have also taken on new tasks related to an increased public awareness of
issues such as problem houses, trees and landscaping, monster houses,
Integrated Service Teams, problem hotels, show cause hearings and reviews
of liquor licensed establishments. The retention of a core group of seven
permanent staff will enable the department to continue these tasks as well
as handle the ongoing complaints, inspections and permit applications.
The remaining six positions currently carry out a dual role of some
secondary suite work, with the remaining time spent on regular permit and
inspection work. Without these staff in the Inspections, Data Resource
and Trades Permit areas, additional regular staff would have been required
a number of years ago.
These trained staff are also needed over the next two years to provide
backup during the process review currently underway in the department as
four staff have already been seconded full-time to this process.
Therefore, it is proposed that the three remaining inspector positions be
extended until June 30, 1996, and the three clerical positions be extended
until June 30, 1997.
Previous general permit fee reviews have taken into consideration
the work done by Secondary Suite staff, and these costs have been built
into yearly increases. The next review in 1996 will include a mandate to
ensure all costs associated with the Secondary Suite Program are covered
by permit fees, as these staff are now part of the total permit process.
It is estimated that this increase would be approximately 2% to 3%.
The current staff positions are shown in Appendix A. When the
Administrator position was terminated in 1994, the Clerk IV was paid two
additional pay grades for taking on new duties. One Clerk II and one
Clerk III have also received additional pay grades to assist the Clerk IV.
It is proposed that these acting positions now be recognized and the
positions be established as outlined in Appendix A. This will result in
the three clerical positions (Clerk II, Clerk III and Clerk IV) being
classified as one Clerk III, one Clerk IV and one Clerk V.
SPECIAL INSPECTION FEE
A two-level special inspection fee for secondary suites was approved by
Council in 1991. To encourage early applications, home owners who apply
within 90 days of notification are charged $10.00, while those who apply
after the 90 day period pay the regular fee of $252.00.
Now that the initial notification process has been completed, the reduced
$10.00 fee at the 90 day period is no longer applicable, except in the
case of a new owner. Staff recommend that the concept of the reduced rate
be retained for new owners, but at $83.00 (the fee charged for re-
inspection when owners wish to upgrade from a phase-out to permanent
suite) rather than $10.00. This will continue to encourage home owners to
upgrade the safety and liveability of their suites while providing
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increased permit fee revenue.
CONCLUSION
The implementation of the Secondary Suite Program continues as previously
approved by Council. This program allows flexible options for owners
wishing to upgrade or install a suite, and for those owners caught with an
illegal suite. The provincial government has recently amended the
Building Code to facilitate the installation and legalization of suites
similar to the City's changes instituted in 1989.
The suite program has evolved into a section of Permits and Licenses,
which has the responsibility to deal with all secondary suite issues,
including single family homes located in multiple and commercial zoning.
Extra staff time is required to deal with the suite issues which often
involve landlord/tenant disputes, multiple suites in one house,
coordination with Health Department and housing relocation staff and
extensions of time for homeowners. This volume of work cannot be assumed
by other Permits and Licenses staff, and is most effectively dealt with by
a core group of trained staff.
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