Motion to legalize secondary suites could go down
Posted Mar 7, 2011 7:56 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Legalizing the city’s secondary suites could be a tougher sell than originally thought for Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
That’s if the vote even happens at all.
The Calgary Herald is reporting the Mayor and other advocates may try to push the big vote off until another day.
The latest count has the motion going down to defeat by a slim 7-6 margin, with two aldermen being forced to sit out.
“For me the debate about secondary suites is all about moving the ball down the field,” says Nenshi. “We have a public that is clamoring for change. Every survey we’ve done shows 75-80 per cent of Calgarians want us to make a change and to stop pretending that our current system makes sense.”
He remains optimistic and tells 660News there is always room for compromise.
“I don’t think the debate will end in an all-or-nothing situation; there are many, many, many options that will be debated,” he says. “As long as we accept something that shows the status quo is not good enough, then I’m satisfied.”
Ward 6 Alderman Richard Pootmans tells Citytv so far, he is undecided.
“I’m very clearly concerned about the issue and want to make sure that we do have a pathway forward,” says Pootmans. “I’m just not sure that we’ve identified it yet.”
Nenshi says it’s about coming up with a solution for the city’s tenants who are forced bear the current process.
“If they do complain, they know that the city’s only recourse is to kick them out of their house, so whose going to complain if it means they lose their home?”
The issue goes up for debate later Monday morning.
