Movement towards increasing Prince George's affordable housing stock have revived conversations about how the city can help keep rental units in livable condition.
The city's Homelessness and Affordable Housing committee has resurrected discussions about a new bylaw that would set out minimum standards for landlords to provide.
The idea of a standards of maintenance bylaw has lain dormant since 2002, when the city council of the day followed a staff recommendation to not proceed with the legislation.
But at the committee's November meeting, social planning manager Chris Bone recapped the 72-page report from 2002 that studied the concept and, on Tuesday, the group decided to move forward with having a draft bylaw prepared for further discussion.
"Since the formation of this committee (which used to be called Beyond Homelessness), this has always been percolating," said Bone. "It comes to the forefront, then it sort of drifts back. So it's once again come to the forefront."
In recent years, the committee has adopted a housing-first policy, putting additional emphasis on affordable housing as a means of reducing homelessness.
"The condition of housing can be as important as its affordability, especially for lower cost rental housing. Living arrangements that are unsafe and unhealthy can make many problems worse for tenants. If the lower end of the housing stock is permitted to deteriorate, it can lead to a reduction of our affordable housing stock," said the 2002 report prepared for the Prince George Housing Coalition. "During the preparation of the Community Plan Addressing Homelessness, it was noted that some people prefer living on the streets than living in the substandard accommodation that is available."
Through the Residential Tenancy Act, the province regulates that landlords must provide and maintain a property that "complies with the health, safety and housing standards required by law," but it doesn't set out any specific standards.
A standards of maintenance bylaw can be that referred-to law that sets out minimum criteria for rental accommodation, regarding things such as the condition and repair of a building and its walls, ceilings and floors, the condition of appliances and fixtures, heating systems and access to hot water.
The Prince George bylaw could range from following the full provincial model to taking on a more-limited scope and focusing only on things like heat and water.
Before bringing the plan to the committee, Bone said she consulted with the city's fire department, bylaw department, building inspectors and current planning staff. She said they raised concerns similar to those highlighted in 2002 about straining resources.
Bone also spoke with other municipalities that have implemented a standards of maintenance bylaw, and though there was some inconsistency among how it was used and enforced, most said they viewed it as "a downloading, for lack of a better term, of provincial responsibility; however they feel the need to respond because they are concerned about the safety and well being of their residents living in inadequately maintained properties."
The bylaw amounts to one tool at the city's disposal to help solve issues that often go unresolved through the Residential Tenancy Branch, said committee member Kerry Pateman, the author of the report and co-ordinator of Community Partners Addressing Homelessness (CPAH).
"And we adopt all sorts of bylaws, some we enforce strongly, others we don't. I think this is one we could have an impact in a small way, and maybe a big way in the future," Pateman said, adding that additional costs only come into play if the city chooses to be heavy on enforcement. "The fears in 2002, they're still here today if you talk to bylaw enforcement and current planning. I would hate if that shuts it down."
Prince George RCMP Staff
Sgt. Perry Smith said the detachment is fully in support of the concept, comparing it to their own work targeting prolific offenders.
When the topic of focusing on chronic crime spots was first broached within the police, it was a hard sell, Perry said, as some thought it would be too much work and take up too many resources. But once it began producing results, Smith said people changed their tune.
"Oh look, there's no crime in this area anymore, because it's a few people causing most of the damage, and that's the thought process," Smith said.
"And if we can identify and target those people with necessary - not abusive - but necessary enforcement and we can educate them as well, be proactive on to how to better their situation as a landlord or how to better their tenants I think we're going to get a huge impact."
The bylaw has to be an evolutionary process and part of a more fulsome strategy, according to committee chair Coun. Murry Krause. During Tuesday's meeting, members raised the issue of tenants who may be afraid to come forward with complaints for fear of being kicked out of their homes and having no place to go.
"If you shut down a major building, you have some social responsibility in ensuring those people have someplace to go because if they don't have much in the way of resources or skills in managing this, then they're out on the streets," Krause said. "So I think it really is more complex... For these other issues, we'll have to look at other ways of mitigating those concerns."
During the previous term, city council introduced and then repealed a low-density residential business licence fee.
Led by Coun. Frank Everitt, the $155 charge on rental units such as secondary suites and duplexes was pulled back in 2014.
Those in favour of keeping the fee - including former Mayor Shari Green and councillors Cameron Stolz, Dave Wilber and Albert Koehler - argued that requiring a business licence would give the city the power to step in an revoke a landlord's ability to operate a rental business for a substandard property.
Krause, who voted against keeping the charge, said he still believes it wasn't the right tool for the job.
"In that time, in that era, it felt like it was just another way to collect a fee," he said. "That's why I'm thinking a standards and maintenance bylaw, or something similar to that, is going to get at those issues much better because we acknowledge there's a whole bunch of people flying under the radar, there's people who are renting out basement suites and other places that are just inappropriate and unsafe and they're not going to apply for a business licence."
