Recommendations for changes to a building bylaw were amended at a public hearing Monday night to reflect the concerns of builders and residents who want larger homes.
The hearing, attended by almost 200 people, ran nearly five hours. More than 30 residents, including homeowners, builders and designers, spoke and gave advice.
The bylaw recommendations include changes to projections of garages, the minimum space between homes and backyard fences and lengths of exterior walls — all of which dictate sunlight, privacy and landscaping.
Many residents expressed their support for the recommendations, voicing anger at recent building developments near their homes.
Steven Guthrie, a resident of Richmond for 20 years, showed pictures of large houses encroaching upon his and his friends’ backyards.
“There is no afternoon sunshine, no privacy,” said Guthrie. “How would you feel if you came home after one day of hard work and you wanted to have a beer in the yard, but you were surrounded by those big concrete buildings?
“Having an extra 10 feet of distance can make a big difference.”
Resident Cindy Lee also talked about her disappointment at new concrete walls and gates built in her neighbourhood.
“It delivers a message of unfriendliness and insecurity, and is destroying the community culture,” said Lee.
However, some builders and homeowners were frustrated with the recommended changes to the building bylaw due to concerns about over-regulation.
“We should be able to choose what to do with the place we purchased,” said Barinber Sanshera, a resident who built two houses for his family.
“The last thing you want to see is people leaving Richmond because they can’t build the house they like and worked hard for.”
Builder Raman Kooner also pointed out that the recommended changes to the bylaw could limit homeowners’ building options.
“People want to build efficient houses with the freedom to choose unique styles. This is making builders’s work much more difficult,” said Koonen.
“Also, it makes it harder to build secondary rental units on the first storey, which is not helping with the city’s affordability problem.”
To address the builders’ concerns, Monday night an amendment to the recommended minimum backyard size was discussed at the request of the Richmond Home Builders’ Group (RHBG).
In the original pre-amendment recommendation, the minimum size of a backyard setback was set at six metres or 25 per cent of the lot depth.
But representatives from RHBG argued that building out from the first storey should not be a regulatory priority.
“We believe massing [the size and shape of a home] is more about the upper floor, since the first storey is not blocking other houses’ views or sunlight,” said Koonen.
“So we should be able to have more building space on the first storey so the house owner can have extra space to function.”
The amendment, which allows a five per cent extension of part of the first storey of a house compared to the original recommendation, was passed by city council after the hearing.
“I think it’s a good compromise and aligns with what we heard from the community” said Coun. Linda McPhail after the amendment was passed by councillors.
Some residents, however, were angry that the builders were able to get members of council to ammend staff recommendations to their favour.
The final reading of the staff recommendations will be considered next Monday, according to Brodie.
If the recommendations pass as expected, city staff will report back to council within 12 months with a follow-up report on the implementation of new massing regulations.
Proposed house size regulations:
