I am a Landlord in the VLA. I do not live in West Vancouver or North Vancouver or Overseas.
I live in the neighbourhood. My neighbourhood. Not The Hood.
I am a Block Watch captain and am trying to make sure this neighbourhood improves; drugs and gangs and crime out so the area becomes what it used to be. A nice safe place to live.
I am all in favour of a business license for rental homes provided the city intends to use this in part to justify huge license fee increases for those landlords who choose to live somewhere else and not care what happens in the neighbourhood.
The city also needs a nuisance house bylaw such as they have in other municipalities, which will help us deal with drug houses and houses where other criminal activity is occurring. I do not think the fee will cause a great increase in monthly rent (14.50 per month which can be claimed as a business expense and written off by the landlord).
I do see it as a tax grab if the city does nothing to make it very costly for absentee/unconcerned landlords which is the crux of the problem in the VLA and other area's where they have problem houses. (The majority of people in the VLA are good people, but we have seen our neighbourhood ruined by a very small handful of thugs.) If you are an absentee and unconcerned landlord who does not care what happens in my neighborhood.
I do and you should pay till you squeak if you want to ruin the area by your neglect.
A. (Lee) Stewart
Prince George
