Six speakers addressed Council during this evening's public hearing on the amended bylaw

Prince George, BC – By a vote of 5-4, Prince George City Council has given third reading to an amendment bylaw that drops the requirement for property owners with secondary suites to pay for a business license.

The vote was called at the end of an impassioned two-hour public hearing that heard from both those for and against the $155 business license that went into effect on January 1st, requiring property owners with even a single suite to pay the license.  The previous bylaw only required a license if the residential building had three or more suites. 

Landlord, Niki Korolec, told Councillors she did not have an issue with holding bad landlords accountable, but with the license, itself.  She took issue with the fact enforcement would be complaint-driven and no extra staff would be added to carry out inspections, despite the new fee.  "This action tells me that, while the intention of the business license is valid, the money generated was more important and this is just another tax grab."

Korolec suggested tying fines for delinquent properties to property taxes, as is the case with the noise bylaw, "This deals with the people that are the problem and not the people that are abiding by the rules."  She also pointed out that if the City revoked a business license, the landlord would still have to go through the Residential Tenancy Act process to evict the tenant.  "You're dealing with things twice – you've got two investigations and it takes a very long time and a lot of money."

Robert Timms owns six rental properties throughout the city.  He said he came to the meeting opposed to the fee, which he felt was onerous, but said, "I am for making things better."

"I came here to be against it, but if there had to be a compromise," Timms explained, "I own six properties – that's six times $155 – you know, if I'm in the rental business I think I should have one license, not six."

Lee Stewart urged Councillors to stick with the new rental business license.  Stewart has been a homeowner and landlord in the VLA neighbourhood for the past 17-years.  In 2010, a gang member who lived in a rental property kitty-corner to his Oak Street home, was shot and killed in the street.  Stewart said he'd been reporting the property to police for several months prior to the shooting.  "Somebody in Vancouver who happens to be gang-related can buy a house up here and put one of their drug dealers in there and there you go," said Stewart.  "What are you going to do? Well, they're renting it – now you've got a tool you can do something."

He said the fee is a small price to pay – it's an investment in your property that gives the City and the RCMP a tool to deal with problem landlords.

City Councillors have been divided on the issue since Councillor Frank Everitt first raised the issue of rescinding the new fee back in April, and they did not sway from their original positions following the public hearing.  Councillors Everitt, Brian Skakun, Murry Krause, Lyn Hall, and Garth Frizzell voted in favour of amending the bylaw to remove the business license, while Mayor Shari Green and Councillors Cameron Stolz, Dave Wilbur and Albert Koehler opposed the amendment, feeling the license was the right decision.

Councillor Cameron Stolz did suggest, prior to last night's vote, lowering the business license fee to remove the 'feel' that it was a tax grab.  "Let's make the business license a dollar – it's not about the money, it's about the tool in the toolbox."

Stolz said City staff are unable to enter a residence to inspect it without permission, but if there is no business license, or the license is revoked, it can't be rented.

Dave Wilbur said the licensing process would have been a way of targeting bad landlords, pointing to the recent case of the Homeland Inn.  "This Council had the courage to shut it down by removing, by using its business license, for one year," he said.  "How then can we turn to neighbourhoods and tell them that the license is not there to protect them?  The goal here has merit and it is to provide a tool to shut down slumlords and others who are taking advantage of those least able to help themselves."

Councillor Brian Skakun said the scope of the bylaw was simply unmanageable.  "For administration to basically come back and say they don't know how this is going to work and what might fall off the table as far as bylaw enforcement because we're not hiring any people," Skakun said. "Are we going to reduce the noise complaints? Dealing with vicious dogs? Messy properties? Is this going to take precedence over everything with the same amount of staff?"

Councillor Lyn Hall agreed.  "When we talk about a tool in the toolbox, there's no question it's another tool, but if you can't use that tool because of resources, where's the benefit of the tool?"

Once the bylaw receives final reading – expected at Council's July 7th meeting – City staff will begin preparing 1,187 cheque requisition refunds for those who've already paid the license.  It went into effect January 1st and the City had expected to issue approximately 5000 licenses for residential building rentals.

Upon final reading, the City's requirements will revert back to a 2007 bylaw.