0.2 per cent below the target vacancy rate is still below the target vacancy rate
And, letters! Plus, the good smell of money
In what is probably not surprising news, the city of Prince George has been told it cannot opt out of the province’s short-term rental rules, which it did not qualify for, because it did not qualify. Housing minister Ravi Kahlon has responded to council’s letter, which included their believe that that the data was not accurate enough (outlined in detail in councillor Cori Ramsay’s blog here).
Here is Kahlon’s response to that:
You identified that the CMHC 2023 data for 3 bedrooms + row housing in Prince George has been suppressed (the data was not statistically reliable) and that apartment housing data for 3 bedrooms + apartments are not suppressed and indicates a vacancy rate in apartments of 3 per cent, which would meet the threshold to opt-out of the principal residence requirement. You suggested that 2023 rental vacancy rate for apartments be used for the purposes of determining the overall rental vacancy rate in Prince George for 2023.
Nevertheless, the total overall vacancy rate (2.8 per cent for Prince George in 2023) reported by CMHC has a data quality rating of “Very Good”, which makes the vacancy rate stastically reliable. The inclusion of the 3 bedrooms + row home units in the total vacancy rate does not make the total vacancy rate statistcally unreliable; to the contrary, it makes the rate more reliable as teh sample size is larger.
Unfortunately, the data does not meet the criteria in the regulations to enable the City to request an exemption from the principal residence requirement. It is important that we prioritize the goal of housing to the long-term housing market in communities where there are rental housing shortages. Short-term rentals can still occur in people’s principal residents, including up to one suit or accessory dwelling unit, and we may well see growth in this type of accomodation.
This is in the correspondence section of the next council meeting, happening Monday. We’ll see if anyone pulls it for discussion.
Also on Monday (via the city’s Facebook page);
The BC SPCA will provide an update on the North Cariboo Community Animal Shelter and Spay/Neuter Clinic.
The Prince George Share Hope Refugee Sponsorship Committee will provide an update on the Prince George for Ukraine initiative that is supporting displaced families from Ukraine.
Council will hear the building and development permit summary from February.
Council will consider a number of options to revitalize the City's current grant process.
A number of rezoning and development applications will be considered.
Letters
These first two letters are more in response to the
newsletter I linked to than me, but happy to share them, on the topic of spaces for pedestrians.Bonnie writes
Bridget Moran's statue at 3rd and Dominion St. downtown is one of my happy places where I go and sit for a while when I'm at the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings.
Beth says:
Great story about signs for walkers. I once chatted with someone at city hall about the possibility of a giant sign saying Prince George, placed on the edge of Connaught Hill - overlooking the city. It would be decorative…the type people want to stand by to take an “I am here” photo. Could we get the city to actually do it? or maybe HYPG? to encourage people to walk up the hill….or drive up for a mini tour of the city. As I write this I wonder if it could be located to be in the sight line of folks at the Canada Games Plaza (the new location for Tourism Prince George).
On the topic of ants coming out for the spring, Jessica W writes:
Fun fact, the kind of ants pictured are Field Ants! Notorious in the Hart but not uncommon in the Bowl or CH, they have the unique behavior of swarming over the large mounds they construct out of organic material like pine needles or fallen leaves (Which is why they're also called Thatcher Ants, the mounds work similarly to a thatched roof). It's very rare for them to invade a home, but they can take over a yard or deck, and can deliver a surprisingly nasty bite!
And 4streegrrl says:
Ha, I did the "signs of spring" giant ant hill check on the weekend at our property and sure enough, some were out and about. It is also where the first green grass starts to pop up, thanks to the hill being on a warm south facing slope and the heat of ants getting busy.
On bathrooms reopening for spring, Shelby writes:
I was in Vanderhoof in February and we stopped at a local park for a break. I had to use the washroom and went to see if the facilities were open, figuring they were closed for the winter. I was shocked that not only were the park bathrooms open, but they were heated and fully operational for winter. Wish we could have something like that here in PG!
Imagine!
And on the feelings of doom mixed with enjoyment of unseasonably warm weather this past weekend, 4streegrrl says:
I played hooky on Friday (i.e. used some overtime hours) to enjoy the weather. As I said to my husband, "I'm taking the day off to enjoy the fresh air and warmth to look for agates by the river, before it turns to dark skies and smoke."
I have been feeling very uneasy most of this winter and it is accelerating with this current spell of weather. I'm looking around and thinking, "is this the year for Prince George?" Videoing and taking photos our stuff for insurance purposes, and pulling together an emergency kit full of cat food and litter for the beasts is a top priority. I've been putting that off a bit too long.
Mandi responds:
Big big big same re: uneasiness. And aside from the obvious, immediate impacts of this weather (eg communities catching fire, exposure to smoke for the rest of us, etc), I'm thinking about the health effects of this constant mid-grade anxiety and stress. Surely it's not normal or healthy to see a beautiful, sunny day and feel the tickle of tears at the back of my throat. This is the first year that I've put 'back up photos onto a portable hard drive' on my urgent to-do list, and during my semiannual emerg kit review in January I included a collection of printed photos of family, friends, and pets.
We drove through McBride in mid-February and I specifically looked up the Dominion Creek watershed, then paid close attention on the drive. We came home on a day that it was snowing in PG, and it started about 10 minutes west of McBride, which really broke my heart - there was very little snow around Dominion Creek, and had the weather system moved roughly 40 km to the east, the creek would have gotten at least a smidge of that moisture. I can only imagine what that added stress is doing to the residents of that area, and I've been reducing my own water consumption ahead of possible restrictions here.
I read somewhere that each generation has some event (or series of events) that feel like it's the worst humanity has seen, and these fire seasons are currently the driving force behind that feeling for me (in addition to, y'know, everything else going on +gesturing vaguely towards the window+).
Laura writes:
I’ve been aware of climate change since the late 1990s when the pine beetle started destroying the forests, watching the red creep across the country. I’m very worried about what is going to happen. We have done what we can as individuals while watching a large number of people ignore the warning signs. I hope more people will support measures to at least slow it down. I suspect we are beyond the point of reversing it. I hope I’m wrong. :(
And Kathy says:
We're socked in by greenspace. In past years, we've sent precious things to our concrete storage unit just in case. But this is the first year I'm considering purging all non-essentials from my house altogether. If we needed to leave in a hurry we'd have minutes notice at most. That has been top of mind since the river started drying up last summer. Winter has only increased this anxiety.
Finally, Danielle adds this in response to Semicharmed Life being a Song of the Day pick this week.
I just added Semi-Charmed Life to my 'aquatic center circa 2000' playlist which has songs that feel like I heard them under the water at the pool. Other examples are She's So High and Drops of Jupiter.
Big fan of that very specific playlist title. Thank you, as always, for your notes and comments.
News roundup:
Of all the jobs I’ve had, the one that stands out as the one that I came home smelling the best from was working at a mill — fresh cut wood is pleasant as heck. So Tourism Prince George and Homespun Refillery developing a spray called “Mill Scent” makes a ton of sense. It’s cheeky but legitimately a good smell.
While he’s gone as the editor, Neil Godbout is not, it seems, gone from the Citizen altogether. Looks like he’ll be delving into the paper’s archives for a weekly “Throwback Thursday” feature in his role with the Prince George Heritage Commission. Nice to see.
Another Prince George resident worried he could lose his sight due to changes to funding for the retinal disease program. Here are the background details.
Street-sweeping operations in high gear as city tackles winter grime.
International ski community praises Prince George as host of two-week para nordic world finals.
PG Pediatric Therapist ran 1000km this winter raising money for disabled kids.
Teenage racecar driver wants to go bigger and better in 2024 season.
Sellout retro night crowd expected to send Cougars into playoffs.
Today’s song:
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Send feedback by replying to this email. Find me online at akurjata.ca.
It is very funny to me that a small portion of your readers write letters to you about my newsletter.
Also, I missed the song rec but a fun fact I recently learned is Semi Charmed Life is actually about doing meth and if you listen to the lyrics, it's kind of a tragic song.
Smiling in the pictures you would take
Doing crystal myth
Will lift you up until you break
It won't stop, i won't come down, i keep stock
With a tick tock rhythm and a bump for the drop
And then i bumped up
I took the hit i was given
Then i bumped again
And then i bumped again she said
How do i get back there to
The place where i fell asleep inside you
How do i get myself back to
The place where you said
I want something else to get me through this
Semi-charmed kind of life baby baby
Anyways.
RE: Spring birbs. I'm on a long break from Facebook so can't jump in on the PG Birbing group posting, so I will share here: I heard my first red-wing blackbirds yesterday down by Tabor Lake! Definitely a sign of spring, even if there is ice still on the lake.
I've also noted a lot more hawks of many sizes sitting on light poles along highway 16, keeping an eye out for mousies. We had a big grey one land in a spruce tree near our house briefly and being a terrible birb watcher, I would need my book and for it to pose for me for 10 minutes so I could tell you what species it was.
The birb topic also reminded me that I spotted a gaggle of Canada Geese down by the river last weekend, and their big footy prints are still to be seen in the sand on the LTMP side of the highway bridge.