An open house on proposed regulations for secondary suites in the Highlands drew mostly positive input from residents.
“It’s been very positive so far, lots of comments, people want to see it happen. Some people who are wanting to do it themselves and know of other people that have them and want to be able to do them legally,” said Michael Dillistone, subdivision approving officer with the District of Highlands.
“Council really wants to hear back from the residents as to what they want. This has been discussed in Highlands for a long time and this is the first time it’s got to this level.”
More than 40 people attended the open house, which took place at the community hall on Finalyson Arm Road Wednesday, to share their opinions on regulations to allow secondary suites and detached dwellings throughout the municipality.
RELATED: Highlands seeks input on secondary suites
Secondary suites (not to be confused with short-term vacation rental such as AirBnB) are not permitted under zoning regulations.
As part of the proposed regulations, the District would allow the construction of one secondary suite or accessory dwelling per lot. The secondary suite must be located within a principal dwelling, and must not have a total floor space of more than 969 square feet in area, or not more than 40 per cent of the habitable floor space of the principal dwelling.
One additional on-site parking space is required and the suites must meet Island Health’s requirements for sewage disposal and potable water.
Long-time resident Libby McMinn said allowing secondary suites is a good opportunity to increase the amount of affordable housing.
“My main interest is looking at the policy that allows for small accessory dwellings or suites and the maximum that’s allowed is certainly big enough, if anything I’d like to see the possibility of using that for two smaller [dwellings],” she said.
“One of the things I would like to see is dwellings like tiny homes on wheels … it gives people ownership so they have some securing in owning their home, even though they don’t own the land.”
RELATED: Highlands takes aim at illegal secondary suites
Carol Lester, who has lived in the Highlands for the past 30 years, said the regulations are a good place to start and it’s time that the District took action on the matter.
She agreed with the limit on the size of the suite, the need for adequate water and septic capacity, and additional parking, but said it will be difficult for the District to get homeowners who already have illegal secondary suites to comply.
“I don’t know what all the options are on that, I don’t have all the answers to that, but I do think this needs to be addressed,” Lester said. “I think it’s time that we made decisions and took action on this matter.”
Vanessa Hart also agreed with the regulations and attended the open house to get more information about how the District would implement the regulations and what strategies other municipalities were using.
Up next, staff will compile results from the open house into a report that will be put forward to council in August.
Residents can still have their say on the proposed regulations by going to highlands.ca for the next few weeks.
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