Planning meeting held over Quaker Road duplex, permit for accessibility upgrades
Misfortune met bureaucracy last Monday when Pelham Town Council held a planning meeting regarding an unauthorized duplex residence on Quaker Road. As reported in the Voice in December, Del Laney and her husband, Rick, are caught between a rock and a hard place with the home they’ve lived in since 1987 (coincidentally, the last time that Pelham’s zoning bylaws were updated).
In 1999, they constructed a “granny suite” for Del’s mother to live in. After her mother passed away, they rented the space out to another couple. Two decades later, Rick is living with a severe disability after an automobile accident. Their home now needs substantial accessibility upgrades, something that requires a building permit under provincial law.
However, that permit cannot be granted until the house is re-zoned —along with related fees paid —to reflect the duplex that it is.
Council agreed to fast-track the matter in December, but the Laneys are now frustrated to the point where they’re willing to sacrifice the second unit— and evict their friends — in order to get the needed accessibility upgrades constructed.
“We want an accessibility permit. This is very difficult,” Del Laney said, sighing. “My husband needs it. The insurance had put forward a plan that was enormous, to the tune of $500,000. And that was turned down. Eventually Rick will be in a wheelchair. Whether or not we have this rezoning, I don’t really care anymore. I’m tired of it. We want accessibility. That’s what we need. We want to stay in our house, we’ve lived there for 32 years … I will give [the granny suite] up if I can get accessibility. I don’t like the idea of evicting people, especially when you have no affordable housing in town. This is something that should have been put on your books a long time ago.”
Mayor Marvin Junkin credited Laney for taking the “correct steps,” while other councilors did seem willing to work toward a resolution that would keep the existing duplex.
Councillor Ron Kore asked staff if it was possible to grandfather the house as is, but bar the arrangement if it is sold. Director of Community Planning and Development Barb Wiens said no.
“There is no mechanism to that through zoning,” Wiens said. “The Planning Act does not allow for that.”
Curiously however, the home immediately next to the Laneys is zoned as a triplex— because it was grandfathered in before 1987.
Laney summarized the family’s frustration by saying of Wiens, “Barb told us, if we’d never come forward with that accessibility plan, then no one would’ve been the wiser.”
Bureaucracy aside, the Laneys have also faced pushback from nearby residents. Normand Mailhot —who didn’t show up at the planning meeting to speak —wrote to the Town that he is opposed to any zoning amendments.
“I am afraid of the impact it will have on any future real estate values in the homes surrounding this property, and no one can say to me that it will be beneficial,” Mailhot wrote. “I built here in 1987 under a certain set of known facts about the zoning and the future plans for the neighborhood and I made a decision based on that.”
Laney seemed exasperated by her neighbours’ opposition.
“I don’t know the people who are opposing us. They probably don’t even know us. There’s four people in our house. We live on an acre. You want densification, and I’m trying to give it to you,” she said, citing the official provincial government plan calling for higher densities in built-up areas.
“I feel like I’m being bullied on one side, and bullied on another because no one wants to meet us in the middle.”
Yet not all area residents seemed to be opposed to the Laneys. Nigel Shelton — the only neighbour to speak at the meeting — wanted more information about the situation. He seemed concerned that the property could be subdivided and sold separately, but Wiens told him that this wasn’t the case.
“[It] can’t be sold as separate units,” she said.
Council voted to take the matter under consideration.
