KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK WEDNESDAY
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JULY 4, 2018 | Volume 31 No. 53
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Warming up High 28 C Low 16 C
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PLAY BALL! KIBT RETURNS TO MAC ISLE Venerable men’s baseball tourney begins on Thursday
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SPORTS/A27
Councillor calls for legal suites in all single-family homes JESSICA WALLACE
STAFF REPORTER
jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
Taylor Wood, Brenden Stokes’ girlfriend, posted this photo on Facebook as a tribute to the 19-year-old man who died in a workplace accident on Friday.
Family and friends mourn the loss of a ‘genuine guy’ SEAN BRADY
STAFF REPORTER
sbrady@kamloopsthisweek.com
cOAcH ✹ D&G ✹ BEBE
Brenden Stokes with Taylor Wood.
Stokes’ girlfriend, Taylor Wood, told KTW that Brendan was a “kind, loving and genuine guy” and friends with everyone he met. “He was never not smiling and
ing. By those numbers, roughly 13 per cent of the city’s residents are living in unaffordable rental situations. “Almost half of our renters in Kamloops are experiencing some sort of housing insecurity and 20 per cent of our homeowners are, too,” Serl said. She detailed a housing market that has also ballooned in less than a decade. In 2011, 695 homes in Kamloops were purchased for less than $240,000, she said. This year, 106 homes are available for sale for less than $275,000. “There’s been a drastic shift in our market,” Serl said. Sinclair said zoning-bylaw amendments would also support KamPlan, which promotes city densification, and noted site-specific applications for suites, as the rules currently require, create political decisionmaking over evidence-based regulatory decisions by staff. See SECONDARY, A13
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WorkSafeBC continues to investigate a workplace accident that claimed the life of a Kamloops man on Friday. Kamloops Tirecraft employee Brenden Stokes, 19, was killed when he was repairing a Caterpillar wheel loader in the 10200-block of Dallas Drive. Stokes was on a service call when he was killed. Kamloops Fire Rescue received a call for assistance from Kamloops RCMP at 1:20 p.m. on Friday. Family and friends have taken to Facebook to share messages of love and grief about the man.
making people laugh. He was one big goof ball with a heart of gold,” Wood said. Stokes’ mother Kara said her son was an amazing young man whose life ended far too soon. “A huge piece of my heart was shattered yesterday [Friday]. Our family is devastated. There are no words to explain how much he is missed,” she said. “So many people love him. The messages and phone calls I have gotten, the people who have come by to give me a hug — I know they are hurting for having lost him as well.” WorkSafeBC did not respond to requests for comment before Tuesday’s press deadline, but notes in general that investigations can take several months.
A Kamloops councillor hopes loosening secondary-suite rules will alleviate financial pressure on the city’s renters, those she calls “overburdened.” Kathy Sinclair is pitching amendments to zoning bylaws that would allow secondary suites in all singlefamily homes. “Secondary suites provide a market-led solution to increasing access to housing options, improving rental affordability and improving homeowner affordability,” Sinclair said while making a notice of motion last week. The notice came after council earlier met to discuss an affordablehousing strategy. Natalie Serl, the city’s acting social-development supervisor, told council during a presentation on the matter that the city’s monthly average rent increased since information presented last year, to $1,031 from $857, which is about $2,000 more overall per year. More than a quarter of Kamloops residents rent, Serl said, with almost half spending more than 30 per cent — a widely accepted affordability threshold — of their income on hous-
FOR RENT: • $1,031: Kamloops average monthly rent and utilities • $1,148: Provincial average monthly rent and utilities • $40,285: Median renter income in Kamloops • 1%: Rental vacancy rate in Kamloops