RE Amendment and removal of bylaws under Division 1

STRATA PLAN - BCS 3648

To whom it may concern,  

RE Amendment and removal of bylaws under Division 1 – Duties of Owners, Tenants, Occupants, and Visitors under Use of property.  

We are contacting the strata council regarding amending several bylaws. These bylaws are in the British Columbia Schedule of Standard Bylaws of the Strata Property Act. We would like to add this amendment of bylaws to an SGM.  

Numerous owners have shared concerns due to the complaints received by the council about these specific bylaws. We will be collecting signatures from other owners and will forward those signatures once collected.  

 With the proposed change, we hope to create a committee to monitor and mitigate issues with animals within the strata complex. The committee would be in charge of following SPCA and city guidelines for pets, monitoring registration of animals, handling all pet complaints including issues with noise, behavior, and mitigating safety of patrons in Waterstone.

The current bylaws that are wished to be amended and/or removed:  

Division 1 - Duties of Owners, Tenants, Occupants, and Visitors   Use of property  

3 (3) (1) An owner, tenant or occupant must not keep any pets on a strata lot other than:

(a) a reasonable number of fish or other small aquarium animals;

(b) a reasonable number of small caged mammals;

(c) a reasonable number of caged birds;

(2) An owner, tenant, or occupant that keeps a pet must comply with these Bylaws and any Rules enacted by the Strata Council on behalf of the Strata Corporation with respect to the keeping of pets. Unless specifically approved by the Strata Council, the weight of any pet dog or cat, or combined weight of pets as set out in (1)(d) must not exceed 20 kilograms (44 lbs); 

(3)  Exotic pets including, but not limited to; snakes, reptiles, spiders or large members of the cat family are strictly prohibited;

(4)  The owners of pets shall be fully responsible for the behaviour of their pet(s) while on the property;

(5)  Visitors shall be informed by the resident they are visiting of the Rules concerning pets and residents will be responsible for clean-up or damage repair resulting from guest's pets being brought into the common property;

(6)  Owners, tenants, occupants and visitors must not permit or allow their pet/animal to roam the common property at any time;

(7)  All pets shall be kept under the direct control (by being leashed or caged as required) of the owner, tenant, or occupant at all times while on common property and must not interfere with or damage the common property or interfere with the use and enjoyment of the common property by other owners, tenants and occupants;

(8)  An owner, tenant, occupant or visitor must ensure that all dogs are under control and leashed on a leash of six feet or less when on the common property;

(9)  An owner of a pet shall not permit the pet to defecate on the common property and the owner of the pet shall immediately and completely remove all of the pet's waste from the common property and dispose of it in a waste container or by some other sanitary means. An owner who fails to remove a pet's waste will be responsible for all costs incurred by the strata corporation to remove the waste and/or repair the common property as well as for any fines that may be levied by the council;

The proposed change to bylaw:  

3 (3) (1) An owner, tenant or occupant must not keep any pets on a strata lot other than:

(a) Aquarium animals kept in an aquarium not exceeding 60 gallons.

(b) No more than 3 small caged mammals 

(c) No more than two caged birds;

(d) Cats (maximum of two);

(e) Dogs (maximum of two).

(2) An owner, tenant, or occupant that keeps a pet must comply with these Bylaws and any Rules enacted by the Strata Council on behalf of the Strata Corporation with respect to the keeping of pets.

(3) Owners of a pet must submit a pet registration form for each pet. Should a resident acquire a new or additional pet, they must complete and submit a new form within two weeks of acquiring the pet. 

(4) All pet cats, dogs, and rabbits must be spayed or neutered. If there is a reason the pet(s) cannot be neutered or spayed, the owner must provide the council/committee with a written medical explanation from a veterinarian. 

 (5) All dogs must be licensed or registered annually in accordance with any existing City of Surrey bylaws. 

(6) All dogs, cats, and rabbits must have permanent identification in the form of a tattoo or microchip. 

(7) All owners of a pet will maintain flea control and vaccination programs appropriate to the type of pet. 

(8) A resident or any visitor must pick up their pets' waste immediately from any area on the common or limited common property and dispose of it in an appropriate waste container or by other sanitary means.

(9) An owner who fails to remove a pet's waste will be responsible for all costs incurred by the strata corporation to remove the waste and/or repair the common property as well as for any fines that may be levied by the council.

(10) All pets shall be kept under the direct control (by being leashed or caged as required) of the owner, tenant, or occupant at all times while on common property and must not interfere with or damage the common property or interfere with the use and enjoyment of the common property by other owners, tenants, and occupants;

(11) An owner shall assume all liability for all actions by pets kept in, visiting, or brought onto their strata lot, regardless of whether the owner had knowledge, notice, or forewarning of the likelihood of such action.

(12) Pet(s) must not be left alone in a strata lot if residents will be absent from the strata lot for more than 48 hours. If the pet(s) are left in the care of an alternate caregiver in the strata lot, the name and telephone number of the caregiver must be provided to the Council/Committee.

(13) If the resident's pet is disturbing the quiet enjoyment of others, the resident will be required to remediate the problem e.g. through work with a pet trainer, behaviourist, daycare, or sitter/walker, and notify the council/committee in writing of the remediation steps they have undertaken

(14) If a resident contravenes Bylaw 3.3.13 [disturbance], the owner or tenant of the strata lot will be subject to a Bylaw enforcement hearing. At the end of the hearing, the council may take no action, fine the owner, require the person to pay the costs of remedying the contravention, or order the immediate removal of the pet from the strata lot in which case the pet will be immediately removed. The owner of the pet will be advised about the outcome of the hearing in writing.

(16) Exotic pets including, but not limited to; snakes, reptiles, spiders, or large members of the cat family are strictly prohibited.

(17) A resident or visitor must not feed birds (with exception of hanging liquid feeders), rodents, or other wild animals from any strata lot, limited common property, common property, or land that is a common asset. No birdseed feeders are permitted to be kept on balconies, strata lots, common property, limited common property, or land that is a common asset

Reasons for change:

1. Allows people to have more choice around what companions they have in their homes.

2. Classism reduces the ability for people with limited funds to afford homes with yards to have animals of their size preference.

3. Allows increased buying opportunities. People with larger animals will now be able to rent/buy in the strata corporation without fear of losing or needing to rehome their animals.

4. Longer tenancy and a larger prospective tenancy pool: For people, who rent their apartments out, there are a lot of perks with lifting the restrictions.

5. Having the ability to keep track of animals by registering with strata helps monitor animals within the strata. 

6. Animals, like people, are not always going to be the size expected at birth, this removes that issue. 

7. Issues with animals within strata should be dealt with through a committee rather than judging the animal based on weight. 

8. Issues with animals can be rectified by other actions rather than removing the animal from the property. For example, training, daycare, dog parks, etc. 

9. Aquarium size matters not the number of fish. The tank size is what can cause water damage. Having a max tank size is preferable. 

10. “A reasonable number” is not very specific and should specify what that is.

11. Animals are family for most people. 

12. If the council removes a pet from the home you are effectively either giving the animal to a shelter or evicting the owner/tenant from the property, keeping families together builds a better community.

Look at the animal based on their behaviors rather than their size. 

By signing this petition you are signing to have the following changes brought to an AGM/SGM for a vote of the owners. To have this brought to an AGM/SGM we need 20% of owners to sign (which is 95 signatures). To get this approved a 3/4 vote approval at that meeting (AGM/SGM) will need to occur.

Letter from SPCA:

 Pet Registration Forum:

Flyer:

Resources:

https://spca.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/strata-council-guide.pdf 

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/surrey-strata-orders-removal-of-dog-deemed-too-tall-for-bylaw-1.5260751 

https://www.stratacare.com.au/pets-in-strata-why-you-need-better-by-laws-not-blanket-bans/

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/strata-housing/operating-a-strata/bylaws-and-rules/pet-bylaws

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/strata-housing/operating-a-strata/bylaws-and-rules/amending-bylaws-and-rules

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/strata-housing/operating-a-strata/meetings-and-voting/preparing-for-a-general-meeting#placing

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/should-you-make-your-property-pet-friendly-2125005

https://theprovince.com/life/homes/condos/condo-smarts-there-are-two-ways-pets-may-be-exempt-or-accommodated

https://www.fsresidential.com/british-columbia/news-events/articles/establishing-pet-policies-for-your-strata/

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Christina Sall    Contact the author of the petition