Dear Editor,
On Tuesday night, Richmond city council adopted the bylaw to terminate, as early as possible, the land use contracts (LUCs) that affected many lot parcels in the city.
Originally enacted by the provincial government, the LUCs were designed to expedite rapid development on the affected parcels and in many cases provided for increased densities over what would have been allowed under current zoning law.
As a result, there was some abuse by builders and owners of these lots, whereby what many perceive to be “hotel-like” homes were built in neighbourhoods that did not share the aesthetics envisioned by those builders. In short, people thought that the new homes were huge and ugly and completely disregarded the character of the neighbourhoods.
On Tuesday, that kind of abuse was reigned in by eliminating all LUCs within one year, the minimum time allowed by the provincial enactment.
Those property owners seeking to take advantage of their existing LUC density rights will need to have a completed building application within one year, or they will lose whatever rights were conferred upon them the by original LUC enactment.
What we witnessed on Tuesday was the most civilized civic exchange in the most admirable, multi-lingual and multi-cultural of cities. The sincerity of our elected officials’ responses and my own experience with city staff gives me much comfort that with respect to individuals who might be negatively affected by this process, the right decisions will be made down the road to rectify any possible injustices due to a single bylaw which affects so many properties simultaneously.
Arnold Shuchat
Richmond
