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Letters: Keep Richmond livable

Richmond News reader asks if she needs to cash out of the city
mega mansion
A mega mansion can be seen being built in another letter writer's neighbourhood. Photo submitted

Dear Editor,

Re: “Richmond needs to scale back on size,” Letters, Nov. 26

I agree with the writer. This plague of huge empty homes has ruined once great family neighbourhoods in Richmond.

I always thought it was so tragic that neighbourhoods designed with regular-sized family homes and large backyards filled with gardens, trees, play areas and more were doomed to become mansions because of the large lot sizes.

Apparently, there was nothing the city could do about it.

Richmond allowed 70 per cent lot coverage in residential zones so all large lots would inevitably turn into mansions, right?

Well, I recently discovered that Burnaby, for example, has 12 residential zones for single family lots.

I looked at one, the R5 zone, where lots are a minimum of 6,000 square feet and the maximum lot coverage is 40 per cent — compared to Richmond’s 70 per cent.

The floor area ratio for building is also much lower than Richmond’s and so the maximum house size works out to around 2,600 square feet.

These neighbourhoods are still intact with a mix of families and seniors because the lots aren’t preyed upon as places to build the largest houses, for sale to investors.

The houses are for living in.

When I discovered what other cities have managed to do, I was overwhelmed with disappointment that our council never took the steps to address this issue, or when they did, they succumbed to the builders’ lobby or owners’ desire for maximum equity gains.

Our adult children who grew up here have nowhere to live, rent or buy.

There’s so much more we could have done.

The question is, is it too late?

During the fight to end mega mansions on farmland in 2018, the hardest part was that it had already gone on for too long.

The remaining landowners felt they should have the right to “cash out,” too.

Do we all cash out and leave the city, or do any of us believe that Richmond has a future?

Laura Gillanders

RICHMOND