There are a few landlords in Burnaby who are fed up with getting blamed for parking woes in our city.
In a series of columns, my readers have unloaded about the lack of street parking in their neighbourhoods, with a lot of blame being placed on homeowners hogging the spots in front of their houses.
But some landlords have been getting blamed too for not providing parking spots for their tenants – leaving the renters to have to hunt for limited street parking.
One landlord, however, says renters share the blame.
“These renters in illegal suites aren’t saints because they steal parking spots that aren’t for them to take,” Todd wrote. “They park too long during the day when time is limited or they don’t park in the back of the places where they rent.”
Another resident named Des had a lengthy manifesto about the situation.
“The bylaw limits non owner/occupant parking in front of residence to 2 hours,” wrote Des. “As a homeowner in Burnaby for over 40 years, I would assure you that all of the aggrieved illegal renters are parking in front of neighbouring residences for prolonged periods and overnight. Burnaby only allows 1 suite per residence, legal or not, for a check on density vs accommodation. So these landlords renting out suites with windowless bedrooms or portions of their garages, or 2, 3 or 4 illegal suites are not only happy banking spoils of illegal rentals, but also leaving their law-abiding neighbours to fend for themselves. As a homeowner with a legal suite, I pay 50% addition utility taxes for the suite and provide parking for the tenant. Homeowners who have installed these illegal suites, do not pay relative taxes. Your articles should focus on the root issues, educate the illegal renters and their respective landlords. Discourage number of cars or ownership vs use of public transport, suggest they even make a private arrangement with the neighbour. On my particular street, owners by and large respect their neighbours. A house down the road has several renters but the number of vehicles under their ownership is limited to what the owner can accommodate.”
Many readers who have written in have said they have tried to reach an agreement with their neighbours, but they’re neighbours have no sympathy and won’t accommodate.
Which is why we have nasty notes and people blocking parking spots with orange cones or garbage bins.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
