There are already hundreds of secondary suites in Oak Bay. Their occupants are seniors, working people, nurses, small business owners, students and children we see when we go to the village or walk down any street.
If there are 1,800 of them and the average rent is $1,000 a month they are bringing upwards of $20 million a year into our community in rent alone. But they also shop for groceries, go to the pub and out for coffee and buy clothes and pet food and bread. You can be sure that if a business offered to bring in that amount of money there would be great excitement all round.
While there are a few out there who can be counted on to be opposed to everything, and a few others who would always rather delay than act, it is no wonder there is such a strong consensus amongst reasonable people in favour of council’s decision to get a move on. Parking, license fees, etc. - those are great things to have a conversation about. But let’s stop the divisiveness and disinformation and go back to being the united welcoming neighbours we all think we would like to be.
Patricia Lane
Oak Bay