Kennedy Stewart has made it clear that housing is Priority 1 on his agenda when he is sworn in as Vancouver鈥檚 first independent mayor in more than 30 years on November 5.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the overwhelming message from the electorate,鈥� said Stewart, who campaigned on building 85,000 units of non-profit, rental and market housing over the next decade.
He has also championed tripling Vancouver鈥檚 empty-homes tax and protecting one-third to half of city homes from foreign speculation 鈥� policies he acknowledges will likely require heavier discussions with council, to which a mix of Non-Partisan Association , Green, Coalition of Progressive Electors and OneCity councillors have been elected.
鈥淚 would really like to get away from the housing crisis as fast as we can, and get on to the growth side of things,鈥� said Vancouver鈥檚 mayor-elect. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I鈥檓 most looking forward to.鈥�
Stewart has committed to review the city鈥檚 permitting and taxation processes, and while he has said that no strategy or policy is off the table, he maintains a review will be the starting point for any further discussion.
However, Stewart wants any kind of cuts to be revenue neutral, 鈥渞ather than us having to take a huge cut and worse 鈥β犅爌assing on more costs to the residential folks that are already being hit hard.鈥�
He also said mayoral campaign rival Hector Bremner鈥檚 idea to offer split assessments on commercial properties should be looked at.
鈥淚t really bothers me that you can operate a business for 30 years in one location and they rezone your area or a development permit gets approved, the building won鈥檛 be built for five years, but your commercial property taxes go through the roof, and because of the triple-net lease, you鈥檙e responsible for them.鈥�
This article is an edited excerpt from Business in Vancouver's interview with Kennedy Stewart. For the full BIV story on Stewart鈥檚 early promises for his tenure as mayor, click .
