A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled the City of Burnaby can keep 421 of the properties it owns a secret.
The City of Burnaby won its case to keep those properties hidden against the B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner and local resident David Hayre earlier this month.
Hayre had requested a list of all the properties owned by the City of Burnaby in January 2020.
His freedom of information request returned a list of 2,314 properties, however, the street addresses or parcel identification information on another 421 properties were redacted.
The city said the withheld real estate information was related to its plans for future development projects, including active land assemblies.
It argued if the properties were disclosed, it would “harm (the City’s) ability to negotiate the purchase of these targeted properties at fair market value.”
The city said property owners would refuse to sell or seek prices much higher than market value, as had happened at least 27 times before. (An affidavit included “one extreme example” in which the city offered to purchase land for an overpass project and pump station for $10.8 million. When the owner became aware of the city’s intention, he counteroffered at $66.9 million.)
Still, an Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) decision ruled the city had to disclose the 421 properties, as the adjudicator did not see “how advance notice of the City’s interest would alter the negotiations between the City and the property owner.”
The city appealed to B.C. Supreme Court for a review of the decision.
Judge Shelley Fitzpatrick found the OIPC ruling “unreasonable” and quashed the OIPC decision.
Fitzpatrick found the city proved a “reasonable expectation of probable harm” from disclosing the properties.
She said knowledge of the withheld properties would not only give a property owner “advance notice” about the city’s interest in purchasing their property, but also reveal the city’s plans of a likely land assembly, as well as how far along the city was in its land acquisition goals.
The city said that disclosing the property information would provide owners of neighbouring lands with a “virtual roadmap” that would show “with a high degree of certainty,” according to the judge, where a land assembly is planned and how important a property is to the land assembly package, providing leverage in negotiations.
“If a property owner becomes armed with that knowledge,” Fitzpatrick said in her decision, “the City’s evidence established that there was considerably more risk that a property owner may ask for an increased sale price or refuse to sell at all.”
“In addition, the ‘disclosure to the world’ would also inevitably increase the risk of other third parties entering the fray to purchase the remaining properties in the yet uncompleted land assembly, seeking to acquire ‘leverage’ in relation to the City as a means for profit.”
The city said if it is unable to purchase the properties needed for its land assemblies, it “may not be able to” increase low-income rental housing in the city, add new construction jobs, or increase parkland.
Fitzpatrick added if the city weren’t a public body, it wouldn’t be required to disclose its plans in real estate negotiations because the other side would likely use the information to their own benefit and the city’s detriment.
The judge’s decision is final, and the matter will not return to the OIPC.
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
