At the last meeting of Kimberley council, CAO Scott Sommerville said he didn’t believe it would take very much time to act on Coun. Sue Cairns’ notice of motion to put the brakes on any conversions of rental units to strata when Kimberley’s rental vacancy was under five percent.
He was correct in that assessment as staff returned the Policy Strata Conversion of Residential Units to council on December 12, 2022.
The report on the policy notes that rental vacancy in Kimberley has fallen fro ma high of 12.5 per cent in 2012 to 1.9 per cent in 2018. After that, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation stopped tracking rates in Kimberley. They still track Cranbrook however, and in 2021 Cranbrook’s vacancy rate was 1.8 per cent.
The new policy also includes a provision that when the rental vacancy rate is greater than 5 per cent but less than 7 per cent if the applicant confirms that any occupants of the subject building that are displaced by the proposed conversion have been moved to other existing or new units in Kimberley available and affordable to the occupants.
This does not apply to new builds, which have the right to begin as strata.
Coun. Jason McBain pointed out that although the decision to move ahead with the policy was a split vote on Council, that didn’t matter.
“When we move ahead, whether the vote was four three or seven nothing we are moving ahead.”
READ: City of Kimberley to develop restrictions on rental buildings converting to strata
carolyn.grant@kimberleybulletin.com
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