Dear Editor,
Onni has again submitted a re-zoning application for the vacant ground level space in its six Imperial Landing buildings on the Steveston waterfront.
The application includes its previous request for commercial retail and restaurant uses in the four, western buildings. However, it has changed the requested uses in the two, eastern buildings to allow short-term rental accommodation, much like a motel with room doors opening to the outside.
The current zoning restricts rental housing to the upper levels of the buildings to ensure that activities of benefit to the local community are provided on the ground level. Allowing short-term rentals, the most lucrative type of housing, on the ground level is of no benefit to the local community which already has too many such accommodations.
Onni keeps coming up with new schemes to get something for nothing. What doesn’t change is its refusal to pay adequate compensation to the city for the requested re-zoning.
When Onni bought the property, it paid industrial land prices since it was zoned for industrial activities. Had that land been zoned for prime, commercial activities, it would have paid millions more. Onni keeps making totally inadequate compensation offers to the city for the millions of dollars increase in land value that the re-zoning would overnight drop in its lap. The longer Onni waits to make a fair compensation offer, the more the land value increases and the more rental revenue it loses.
Onni has already been in the short-term rental business. According to the Vancouver Sun on May 19, 2017, they have been using overnight accommodation websites to illegally rent out furnished apartments, without the required hotel licence, since at least 2013 in their building at 1022 Seymour St. in Downtown Vancouver.
The City of Vancouver fined them $24,000 just for the last, six-month period since that is the time limit for such fines under the law.
Onni agreed to stop the short-term rentals in that building. Now, they would like to move the operation to Steveston.
Comments on the re-zoning application can be sent to Sara Badyal at the City of Richmond Planning Dept. ([email protected].)
John Roston
Richmond
