Monday’s Richmond city council agenda kicks off with an update on the George Massey tunnel replacement project at the general purposes commmittee meeting. The presentation will be made by Donald Trapp, executive project director, Transportation Investment Corporation.
The George Massey tunnel presentation will be followed by a discussion about whether to continue streaming all city council meetings, including committee meetings, online – as has been happening since the beginning of the pandemic.
Changes to provincial legislation let local governments continue the practise that has allowed the public to follow meetings at home instead of in council chambers or committee rooms.
This meeting is directly followed by a finance committee meeting where utility rates are on the table.
Metro Vancouver, which bills Richmond for water, sewer and garbage, is raising its rates and this is anticipated to raise costs for Richmond taxpayers.
On Tuesday, the planning committee meets to discuss duplexes. In the late 1980s, Richmond discouraged building duplexes and many of these two-unit homes on a single lot are now deemed “legal non-conforming” according to current zoning.
However, city staff is recommending council rethink this policy and allow 122 dupexes in Richmond that are currently non-conforming to be rezoned so that they can remain duplexes.
If a duplex is 75 per cent or more damaged – for example, in a fire – the property owner cannot currently rebuild the duplex, rather they are required to build whatever the lot is currently zoned for, for example, a single-family home.
The News recently reported on a Burkeville property owner whose duplex burned down, but he was told he had to build a single-family on the lot because that’s what it was zoned for.
