Strathmore resident Claude Brown has reacted to Mayor Pat Fule announcing that he intends to rescind the garage and garden suites bylaw.
Brown has been a vocal critic against the rule, creating a petition after the bylaw was passed in the summer. By the end of his campaign, Brown received 627 signatures.
"I'm very surprised, elated, but not over the moon, and cautiously optimistic," said Brown. "This is a direction to the town to investigate whether or not they want to repeal it."
The bylaw allows up to 20 per cent of Strathmore homes to build garage and garden suites on their property, which they could rent out to tenants.
Mayor Fule told StrathmoreNow that there were several factors that changed his mind, including Brown's petition and the support it received.
"A large number of people had expressed concerns about what secondary suites might do to their neighbourhoods," said Fule. "There was some concern about investors just buying up properties that had a detached garage."
Other concerns are parking and traffic congestion, a sentiment that Brown said he agrees with.
"Basically, you're going to have people just buying up the town and putting up tiny houses just so they could rent them out, and that changes the fabric of the town," added Brown. "It's no longer a population of citizens who live and want to raise their kids here, you're basically changing it into a renter's market."
At a council meeting on Feb. 19 Fule started a motion for administration to create a report on the bylaw to present to council. According to Fule, he hopes that the report will be brought to council in the spring.
"I think it was worth having a report come to us so we can make the absolute best decision for our residents," added Fule. "Through our lens of a different housing market right now, maybe other councillors will agree that this move towards garage suites is not necessarily as important now with all the land development happening in the summer."
Although Brown believes that his petition had an impact on the bylaw report, he said that he wasn't the only voice against the suites.
"It's not my credit or anything, it's the credit of the people who listened, signed the petition, and had their voices heard," said Brown. "I'm happy it's made a difference. At least it's raised the awareness, has people speaking to the town, and Pat, to his credit, listened."
According to Fule, there is a huge housing growth about to begin in Strathmore, with two subdivisions already beginning construction.