Dear Editor,
Re: “Property rights clash with ‘city slicker’ council,” Feature, March 10.
When it comes to home sizes on ALR land, I believe the city has artificially created this issue for the purpose of sticking farm land with unnecessary restrictions.
The average home size on ALR land has grown by 50 per cent in the last five years, from approximately 80,00 to 12,000 square feet.
Why? Because the permit department, which has discretion, has allowed it.
Why hasn’t the permit department simply refused to allow such house sizes?
This points to a serious lack of discretion from city officials. So why, then, is the solution to enact laws to restrict house sizes to around 5,000 square feet (much less than the average housing size five to seven years ago) instead of changing the permit department employees and guidelines?
Jesse Singer
Richmond
