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Flocking for food A flock of gulls looking for breakfast follows a crab boat as crew members pull up traps in Cadboro Bay on an early Sunday morning.
Tackling the elephant in the room Saanich explores legal suites in dense Gordon Head, Caddy Bay Kyle Slavin News staff
If rules were made to be broken, Saanich residents must be the leading the charge. With an estimated 9,000 illegal secondary suites in the municipality – or roughly one in every five dwellings – Saanich is now
looking at measures to change the rules, in the name of affordable housing. “Having a tenant is a parttime job,” said Cheryl Sacamano, who has an illegal suite in her Gordon Head home that she rents to University of Victoria students. “If the municipality is on board with measures to support homeowners and
renters, it’s a good thing.” She’s had a suite in her house for the past decade, and says she’s never had any problems with tenants or complaints from neighbours. “There was a learning curve about how to interview and how to screen people. That’s really important and really useful,” Sacamano said. Sacamano is one of many Saanich residents supporting the municipality’s recent
move to study legalizing secondary suites in most neighbourhoods north of McKenzie Avenue. Following a lengthy consultation process, Saanich council legalized secondary suites south of McKenzie in June 2010. In the nearly four years since, only 98 homeowners have received a permit for a legal suite. Cameron Scott, manager of community planning, says it’s not about the number of legal suites, it’s about
providing comfort and security for homeowners, renters and neighbours. “It provides a level of stability to the housing stock. For example, if you’re currently renting out your illegal suite and we receive a number of complaints, that suite could be shut down,” he said. “Suites are a mortgage helper, too, so you’re able to continue on with that.” Saanich largely ignores the overwhelming pres-
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ence of illegal suites. They only become an issue if the municipality receives complaints. In the last 15 years, Saanich has received a total of 1,520 complaints related to illegal suites. Since 2010, Saanich has received 229. From those complaints, Scott didn’t know how many suites bylaw officers have shut down. PLEASE SEE: Saanich seeks, Page A10
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