21 hours Ago By Dan Ferguson
A decision to exempt a Langley City development from a new tenant relocation policy has raised questions about the way the municipality is implementing standards that more than double the amount of compensation builders must pay renters. That's according to Delaney Mack, one of three Langley City councillors who voted against the application to demolish the Pyramid Apartments at 5360 204 St. and apply the older, less generous policy.
Even though the design was altered from a 12-storey steel frame building to a six-storey wood frame structure, a staff report to council said the "updated six-storey design acts as a continuation of the original application" and therefore the new policy doesn't apply. By a narrow 4-3 margin, council agreed. Mayor Nathan Pachal, Councillors Teri James, Paul Albrecht and Mike Solyom voted yes, and Mack, Leith White, and Rosemary Wallace were opposed.
Mack said she felt the revised design was a new building, and the new rules should apply. "I still have unanswered questions as to how this application isn't considered new," Mack told the Langley Advance Times in a Sunday, Jan. 5 interview.
"The majority of council made the wrong decision and we need to do better to protect our vulnerable tenants," Mack commented. "It's [new compensation policy] not being applied here where it should be, and I think that's to the direct benefit of select developers at the expense of vulnerable tenants that need our help," Mack added. "I think that it's just a bad precedent.
" Mack, who said three similar applications are pending in Langley City, wants to make the new policy automatically apply to all proposals made after the new rules were adopted. In July of last year, council unanimously to help people who live in purpose-built, market-priced rental buildings facing redevelopment. Previously, the maximum compensation a long-term tenant could claim was six months rent.
That rose to as much as 16 months, in cases involving "vulnerable" tenants. Compensation for moving expenses were boosted, from $750 to $900 for one-bedroom units and more for larger suites and the vulnerable. Developers were required to help displaced tenants find a similar home.
Eligible renters may return to the redeveloped building at 20 per cent below market rent. Pensioner Cran Campbell, one of the Pyramid residents facing relocation, said the new policy would have meant substantially more money. "Oh, yeah, definitely.
And it would not be just for me, " Campbell said. "It would be for all the tenants that are covered by that policy" However, he stressed, it doesn't solve the bigger problem of finding a new apartment of a similar size that he can afford. "Money [to move] is fine, but when it’s gone, you have to be able to live off the income you get every month," Campbell said.
"Fixed income people live on a fixed income." The latest CMHC figures for the Langley area show, as of Oct. 2024, the average bachelor suite was renting for $1,103, one bedroom apartments for $1,723, two bedrooms for $2,188 and three bedrooms for $3,116.
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