coquitlam
Port Moody
Poco May Day
What will happen to those left homeless by fire?
A rainbow (crosswalk) lands in PoMo’s Newport Village.
The 96th annual May Day Festival kicks off on Friday.
PaGe 7
PaGe 11
PaGe 21 + SPecIaL SecTIOn
There’s more at
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tricitynews.com
2019
Watering regs now in effect + PM cops cleared of using excessive force in arrest + SD43 speaks up on Confucius Institute
SPrInG IS TIMe FOr PLanTInG
r e n Ta L H O U S I n G
Lawsuit over PoCo renoviction bylaw Western Drive apartment owners say bylaw targeted them Gary McKenna gmckenna@tricitynews.com
A Port Coquitlam bylaw designed to protect tenants facing renovictions is being challenged in court. The landlord for a rental building at 1955 Western Dr. is suing the city, stating the new regulations prevent improvements from being made to their building and will hurt the market value of the property. “The bylaw amendment is so unreasonable that no reasonable body would have adopted it in the circumstances,” the company stated in court documents. The new regulations, passed by council March 12, requires rental apartment businesses with five or more
Bob Cunningham keeps Li Yue and Bev Welsh dry as the Dogwood Garden Club members begin brightening the gardens around Coquitlam’s Dogwood Pavilion in preparation for the annual plant sale that is being held Saturday from 9 to 11:30 a.m., or while stock lasts, at the Centennial Room in the pavilion. For more information on the club and the sale, go to dogwoodgardenclub.weebly.com. For more on the sale, go to tricitynews.com. For more weekend events in the Tri-Cities, check out our Things-to-do Guide on page 25. MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
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units to provide interim accommodations to tenants when they plan to make repairs or renovations. The bylaw amendment also prohibits property owners from raising rents after construction is complete. In the petition, the landlords for 1955 Western Dr. state the changes are discriminatory because they specifically target their business and were only put in place after they issued eviction notices to all 65 units in February. The property owner said they need the building empty for at least nine months while they conduct renovations, including upgrades to plumbing and electrical systems, and the removal of asbestos. In order to cover the costs of the loan to pay for the improvements, rent increases are necessary, according to the court filing. see
RENOVICTION, page 9
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YOUR TRI-CITIES
WILLS, ESTATES AND TRUSTS TEAM Lewis Nguyen
Don A. Drysdale
Richard Rainey
Michele Y. Chow