City wants to extend secondary suites amnesty
City administration is proposing to extend the amnesty on secondary suite applications in hopes to enticing more homeowners to convert their units to legal suites.
City council approved the two-year amnesty in 2018. It is currently slated to end on June 1.
Under the amnesty, 1,600 new suites have been added to the city's registry of approved suites.
Only those meeting all the city requirements and the fire code can be on that list.
During the amnesty, all registry and development permit fees are waived.
Thousands of illegal suites remain
It's estimated there are still 13,000 illegal basement suites in Calgary. Many of them may not meet the current building code as they've never been inspected.
The COVID-19 pandemic is seen by the city as a good reason for extending the amnesty rather than cracking down on illegal suites.
In a report that went to city council's planning committee on Wednesday, administration noted that "moving to an enforcement approach during the current health emergency will mean an erosion on homeowner cooperation and could create cynicism among the public."
Cliff de Jong, who works with the city's building services, told the committee that secondary suites play a critical role in Calgary's housing stock.
However, their importance may only increase as Calgary's economy is jolted by COVID-19 and yet another downturn in oil prices.
"Obviously, they're on the more affordable side of the spectrum and we think that that is going to be a need that is only increasing over the coming months," he said.
Planning committee on board
The committee agreed, voting unanimously to extend the amnesty period.
The chair of the planning and urban development committee, Coun. Jyoti Gondek, said the amnesty has accomplished exactly what council wanted.
"It's very clear that the goals of council in offering amnesty was to help people come forward and have their secondary suites brought up to code so that it's a safe environment for anyone who wishes to live there," Gondek said.
"I think it's a great idea to extend that period especially in light of what we're seeing with COVID-19 right now."
City council will vote on the amnesty extension at its meeting next Monday.
