Reviewing tenant protection

Kelowna city council will deal with the issue of “gentrification” when it meets again on Monday.

Earlier this year, council pushed pause on the redevelopment of a property on Mills Road until it could have a detailed discussion on a tenant relocation and subsidy policy.

The development in question would see the demolition of a 20-unit apartment to make way for a 55-unit complex.

While council wrestled with the prospects of 20 households looking for a place to stay, planning director Ryan Smith cautioned council to deal with the issue as part of a “broader discussion,” and not a one-off.

“That was a piece of work identified in the Official Community Plan and was likely going to come as a near-term recommendation coming out of the housing strategy,” Smith told council at the time.

“That is something we could do our best to accelerate and bring back to council but I think it would be giving council bad advice to have staff negotiate with developers file-by-file in the interim."

Monday, staff will present council with a series of options to create a tenant protection and relocation assistance policy.

Option 1 is to stay with the status quo, which sees requirements laid out in the provincial Residential Tenancy Act.

Option 2 would include those requirements along with a requirement that the developer submit a relocation plan including proposals to minimize the impacts of tenant displacement.

Option 3 would include both requirements from Option 2 along with extended tenant notification, relocation coordinator services, financial compensation and right-of-first-refusal.

“Staff recommend proceeding with the development of Option 2 to achieve a balance between tenant support and development feasibility,” the staff report suggests.

“Upon this option, individual developers would be required to create their own tenant relocation plans, following a set of guidelines outlining what the plan would include.

“This requirement would be implemented through a bylaw and would only apply when the vacancy rate falls below four per cent.”

Kelowna vacancy rate has only nudged toward or exceeded four per cent four times since 1991.

If council accepts the proposed option, staff would need to develop a series of guidelines to be included within the relocation plan and draft a bylaw.