This article by Elizabeth Murphy was published online in the Vancouver Courier on May 11, 2012.
Son of STIR: New rental policy proposed for Vancouver
New program has same problems as old STIR program and more
Next Tuesday afternoon, Vancouver Council will consider approving a report on a Secured Market Rental Housing Policy. There has been no public consultation on this policy, which has huge implications for land use city-wide including changes to many Zoning and Development Bylaws.
The proposed market rental policy is to replace the failed Short Term Incentives for Rentals (STIR) program, which was approved without public consultation in 2009 and recently cancelled after massive opposition. There were many problems with STIR, most of which will not be addressed by the new policy, Son of STIR, proposed to replace it. Son of STIR will be worse than its predecessor, and should be referred back to staff for further public consultation.
Problems with STIR:
When Brent Toderian, former Director of Planning, explained in January 2012 why the STIR rental units were being removed from the Rize proposal in Mount Pleasant, he outlined three problems with the STIR program…
Read the full article online here.
