Re: “Isitt asking B.C. for power to tax empty houses,” Jan. 13.
Congratulations to Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt for continuing to tackle the vacant-housing issue. For five years, I have lived across the street from a very large, minimally maintained, vacant home in James Bay, which also has an adjacent undeveloped lot. One can only imagine what self-interest motivation the owner has for not using, selling or developing the property after many years.
It detracts from the neighbourhood while contributing to housing issues that Isitt’s proposal for a vacant-housing tax seeks to address.
The debacle of the boarded-up Crystal Court Motel property sitting as an unused eyesore in the centre of Victoria for almost 10 years was perhaps the worst example of such irresponsible property ownership.
At some point, individual owners’ rights must give way to the collective interests of the community. An additional vacant-housing or unused-property tax is a minimal penalty for such behaviour.
Brian Cousins
Victoria
