TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE REPORT: SECONDARY SUITES AND COMMUNITY MAILBOXES

SECONDARY SUITES AND COMMUNITY MAILBOXES

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Committee receive this report for information.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS

I concur with the recommendation.

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES’ COMMENTS

I concur with the recommendation.

DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING’S COMMENTS

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT

To present Committee with information relating to Canada Post’s conversion to community mailboxes in the context of secondary suites and the Town’s current addressing system. The report will offer options for approaching the issue. This report focuses on detached dwellings and secondary suites, and the addressing conventions for residential properties.

BACKGROUND

Canada Post is transitioning detached residential dwellings to community mailboxes over the next 5 years. View Royal residents are in the process of making that transition. Among the concerns about the transition to the community mailboxes is the way in which secondary suites will be assigned mailboxes.

Canada Post has offered the following entry on their ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page on their website dedicated to the transition to community mailboxes:

Question: We too have a legal suite downstairs and have concerns with the other tenants having access to our mail at a community mailbox, how do we go about getting a different box for each of us? – Erika.

Answer: Hi Erika. If the suites currently share one mailbox, the suites will share a compartment in the community mailbox. If each suite currently has its own, separate mailbox, then each will have a separate compartment in the community mailbox. Every address will get three keys to their compartment. If you have added a suite to an existing address and want mail delivery to that specific suite, please contact the city to register the address.

ISSUES AND ANALYSIS

By legislation, Canada Post is only required to deliver mail to properties with a civic address. It is up to the individual mail carrier if they want to go ‘above and beyond’ and deliver mail to individual suites, which are not assigned a civic address by the Town. As a rule, suite mail gets delivered to the primary mailbox and is mixed with the principal dwelling’s mail. It is only the exception that gets mail delivered to suites. There is no way of knowing how many separate mail boxes exist on private property within the Town and are related to a suite. To date the Town has received two inquiries about this issue.

The central question for Committee to consider is whether the Town should assign civic addresses to suites to enable a separate mailbox for suites in the community mailboxes.

The Addressing Bylaw, adopted in 2015, describes two types of addresses:

“Civic Address” means the legal address assigned to a lot by the Town.
“Street Address” means the number posted on a dwelling that reflects the civic address of the lot, or, in the case of multiple buildings on a lot, the building’s address.

Civic addressing is assigned to residential properties which have a separate title, whether freehold or strata; this is mainly due to the ease of discussing properties with residents in providing locations and services, and with BC Assessment for the purposes of taxation. Street addressing is the address used for mail delivery, and should reflect the civic address where possible. If the mail carrier is in the habit of delivering to suites, the suite gets mail if the suite owner has placed a street address on the building to identify the suite at street level. There is no downside to this system; it is self-regulating and does not require Town resources to function. Town staff has had no complaints, conflicts or issues with the current system.

Currently we do know that some suites within the Town will get mail due to the good will of the letter carrier. When the switch to community mailboxes takes place, all mail will go to the primary dwelling’s box.

Security

An issue raised with suite residents is the degradation of mail security and privacy with the shift to a single community mailbox. As mentioned, however, any mail delivery to a suite has been voluntary in the past. A community mailbox is not the only option for mail delivery. If privacy is of utmost concern for a resident, it is possible to obtain a post office box at various outlets around the municipality and the region.

Potential Solutions

As per Canada Post’s directive that residents contact the Town to register the address, the Town could consider the following options in response to residents wishing to do so:

Continue the status quo, as much as possible. The Town would not assign a civic address to suites, and neither expect or require that a street address be posted to identify the suite at street level. The business of mail delivery would rest between the suite occupant and Canada Post and thus would result in the suite and principal dwelling receiving mail in one box. This is the ‘hands off’ approach, the current approach, and this option is staff's preference. If the suite occupant wanted a separate box, they would obtain a post office box themselves.
Assign a civic address to each suite that requests it. The Town would charge the change of address fee of $100 for it. This charge covers the staff time associated with the administrative work to add or change the address and inform affected agencies of the change. This allows residents who are comfortable sharing a mail box to continue doing so if they so choose.
Require that all suites in the Town have a posted and registered street address that is also used as a mailing address. In the third option the Town would not charge for address changes, but rather take it on as a Town-led initiative. A suite would have a civic address with a standard prefix. So, if the street address was 777 View Royal Ave, the suite address would be 101-777 View Royal Ave.

This would be the ‘standardize suites’ option where they are treated as other residences within the Town in having a recognized and posted street address.

Options 2 and 3 would require a significant shift in the way the Town defines and treats civic addressing, and could result in significant confusion around the administration of taxation and other services such as garbage removal. These options also have the potential to significantly increase the number of community mail box sites, or the size of community box installations within the Town as suites were not considered in the planning stages of this project. If all suites within the town were to receive an address, an additional 350-400 individual mailboxes would be required. The latter options do not take into consideration that a suite may or may not be occupied and creates a demand for mailboxes which may not actually exist. With the advent of electronic billing, email and the like, this need for type of infrastructure is likely to continue to evolve over time.

Emergency Services

Protective Services has informed staff that assigning civic addresses or requiring posted street addresses for suites would have no impact on response times or impact resident safety. Dispatch handles the calls and provides direction, and informs first responders that an issue is within the suite or in the principal dwelling.

POLICY

The Town’s policy on addressing is as such:

Civic addressing must be assigned in a logical, consistent order which upholds community legibility, promotes effective wayfinding, minimizes Fire and Emergency Medical Services response times, and generally acts in the public interest.