Editor:
Re: Halt on renovations and improvements
I see that the mayor and his band of spend-thrift acolytes (Team Cote) are at it again. Superfluous "art" and the subsidy-sucking ferry service weren't enough, now they want to dissuade residential housing development under the guise of "protecting renters."
As I understand the latest edict - if a landlord wants to make improvements to a rental property, he (or she) must find new accommodation for the tenant and then can't raise the rent to pay for these improvements. If that's the case, why would the landlord even bother to make any improvements?
My warning to renters is "be careful of what you ask for."
When the place starts falling apart and/or requires major work that possibly some earlier preventative work could have prevented, don't come whining to the council about the poor, decrepit housing conditions. Remember that you, the renter, with your heroes’ "pioneering legislation" brought it on yourself.
I'd hate to be a landlord or developer in New Westminster.
Rick Johnson, New Westminster
