Gurjit Jawandha built a basement suite in his home so the grandmother of his children would have a place to live while helping care for his kids. The City of Burnaby told him to demolish the suite and fill it with sand.
鈥淭his is just wrong,鈥� Gurjit Jawandha told city council at a recent meeting.
The city has given him six months to fill in the space and seal it with a concrete slab. In a city and region severely lacking in rental stock, Jawandha said he doesn鈥檛 understand the demand.
Jawandha converted a portion of his crawl space into a suite. The new living area exceeded the ratio of habitable space to lot size allowed in his Metrotown neighbourhood, the city鈥檚 deputy director of planning and building told the 叠耻谤苍补产测听狈翱奥.
Ed Kozak said Jawandha was aware of this rule when he built his home five years ago.
Jawandha told councillors he knew he about the bylaw when he built the home, but he had been told it was likely to have changed by now.
鈥淚 thought by now it would have been approved because it鈥檚 been an ongoing issue for a long time,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow I鈥檓 supposed to refill this livable space, which is for grandma, and now we have nowhere to place her.鈥�
Kozak said 鈥渉e took a chance and it didn鈥檛 work out for him.鈥�
Mayor Derek Corrigan struck a similar tone while responding to Jawandha in council chambers.
鈥淪o, you knew exactly what you were doing when you constructed your building,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou knew exactly what you were entitled to do, and you鈥檝e chosen to do something different.鈥�
Jawahdha acknowledged that was true but said he still felt it was unfair.
Council later voted to file a notice in the Land Title Office against Jawandha鈥檚 home to warn any potential buyers of the order to refill the crawl space. The order came after the city was informed that Jawandha鈥檚 home was up for sale.
Jawandha said the home was no longer for sale. Online listings show it has been taken off the market.
