Richmond Review, June 21, 2013

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Illegal suites uncovered in city probe

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Matthew Hoekstra photo Green Acres golf professional Derek Whipple, with Wendy Toyer, executive director for the ALS Society of B.C., on the links Thursday morning. Whipple lugged his clubs around Green Acres Golf Course for 54 holes last Friday to support people living with ALS. See page 4.

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the properties—each notified in writing of the required inspection—uncovering numerous violations. Officials found 24 houses with one illegal suite, three houses with two illegal suites and one house with four illegal suites. Three boarding houses were also found by inspectors, each with multiple bedrooms with key-locked doors—illegal and a fire hazard, the city ruled. Inspectors also shut down two dangerous gas connections they discovered. City officials are continuing to inspect remaining houses and ordering homeowners to complete any necessary work and obtain permits if they wish to continue renting a secondary suite. The Spires Road neighbourhood is a cluster of single-family homes close to Richmond’s downtown core. There are approximately 100 houses, most 50 years old, on the U-shaped ditch-lined streets of Spires Road and Cook Crescent. The area is ripe for redevelopment. The area is classified as “general urban,” allowing four-storey buildings.

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Google Maps photo Many houses in the Spires Road subdivision, overlooked by residential towers along Garden City Road, have been found to contain illegal suites.

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An ongoing city investigation into a downtown Richmond neighbourhood has uncovered 28 houses with illegal suites— including one house with four suites—and illegal boarding houses. Officials have ordered offending homeowners in the Spires Road area—southwest of the Garden City Road and Westminster Highway intersection—to bring the suites into compliance and apply for necessary permits from city hall. “Our response to illegal suites is primarily complaint driven,” said Ted Townsend, city spokesperson. “We received a complaint… conducted a number of inspections in the area and discovered many non-conforming suites.” A single secondary suite is allowed within a detached home, but must be inspected by the city for it to be legal. The suite must comply with all B.C. Building Code requirements and city bylaws. Boarders are also permitted, but are limited to two per house. The Spires Road probe began earlier this year when complaints of illegal suites began to pour into city hall. A bylaw enforcement officer was tasked with investigating the neighbourhood, and two city inspectors soon joined the case. A total of 63 properties were red-flagged. So far city officials have inspected over half

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