The decision at the September 15 Kelowna city council meeting to approve a strata conversion of a 30 unit rental property at 1777 Water Street is yet another example of the thoughtless and confused policies of our city council on the important issue of affordable housing. Most observers of the scene agree that there is an acute shortage of rental units here. In fact, this past spring city council decided that their priority would be to create affordable rental units rather than affordable ownership units. Why then did city council unanimously agree to remove 30 rental units from the market in return for the owner offering to create 2 affordable strata units along with 28 market ownership units in the project?
This decision is indicative of the muddled thinking of our city council when it comes to the dealing with the crisis of affordable housing here. At a time when the rental vacancy rate in Kelowna is near zero, there should be a moratorium on strata conversions. But don’t tell our city council as it is apparent that when it comes to the subject of affordable housing, they don’t know what they are doing from one week to the next.
