The topic of legal suites in Oak Bay is once again raising comments and concerns. At the moment it is believed that there may be a few hundred non-conforming suites which have gone virtually undisturbed by municipal hall even though they are illegal. If suites do become legal I am willing to bet that owners of most of the existing suites will not apply to convert. Why would they? Building a legal suite is an expensive proposition costing tens of thousands of dollars. Other homeowners might apply which could potentially double the number of suites in Oak Bay.
There have been letters for and against the proposal in both the Oak Bay News. People want to live in Oak Bay and the only way they can afford to, they believe, is by putting in a suite or as the real estate people like to call them “mortgage helpers.” People should live where they can afford to live without. We would love to live in the Uplands, Ten Mile Point or Shaughnessy but can’t afford it. Maybe if we built a suite we could. But we won’t. Such is the luck of life.
Ruth Williams
Oak Bay