VANCOUVER—Independent mayoral candidate Shauna Sylvester delivered a petition to Mayor Gregor Robertson’s office on Monday, calling for the city of Vancouver to renew existing co-op leases, which are long overdue for renegotiation.

The city has created a “very precarious position” for those living in co-ops on leased city land, Sylvester said.

“Some of those leases are due to be renewed in two years. Many of those leases do not allow the co-ops to get the kind of financing they need to do repairs,” she explained while standing before city hall. “Today I have a petition signed by hundreds of people in the city of Vancouver asking our mayor to renew the leases on co-op lands immediately.”

The petition was signed by roughly 1,000 people.

Prior to entering the mayor’s office, Sylvester noted she lives in an equity co-operative. The housing model saves the city money while connecting communities, she said.

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Sylvester’s focus on renewing existing co-op leases has bled into other party platforms. She noted that other mayoral candidates have taken up the issue, and though they have not advocated publicly, Sylvester said “it’s in their platform, which is a step in the right direction.”

“There are 40 co-ops where there’s a great deal at stake,” she explained. “Vision didn’t manage to renew even one of them.”

And part of the problem, she added, is they look at it as land that can be redeveloped.

Sylvester was a facilitator on the Mayor’s Task Force, created in 2012 to address the issue of housing. While the city’s commitment has come up “over and over” again, none of those leases have been renewed, she insisted.

“There is a constituency of support for them. This is not a time to look at them as land for different kinds of housing. This is the time for looking at renewing, rejuvenating, supporting and expanding them,” she said in an interview.

In an emailed statement, the City of Vancouver said there are 55 co-ops that are on city-owned land. Of those, 16 are set to expire in the next 12 years and many are facing expiring operating agreements with other levels of government.

Last February, the city approved a set of options for sustaining affordable co-op housing, and staff have been working with individual co-ops on lease extensions. These were deemed a priority based on a number of factors, “including lease expiry dates and financing requirements,” the statement read.

Each renewal needs to be considered separately, it added. To date, four co-ops have provided the “required information” that would allow the city to make a lease renewal offer, such as a building condition assessment.

But this was a promise in the last municipal election, said John Ounpuu, board member at False Creek Housing Co-operative, which was founded in 1974.

They’ve been in negotiations with the city regarding renewing leases for eight years, he noted.

“We’ve had an affordable diverse community at the core of the city for 40 years that has managed to stay affordable,” Ounpuu said. “It’s time to look at expanding that model instead of stifling it at this critical time for the city.”

Although the co-op has 18 years left on its lease, Ounpuu noted that within a “few months” they would no longer be eligible to institutions for remediation — or building maintenance. That’s because 15 years is needed to repay the loan.

The co-op would like to see non-market lease rates with a focus on social equity.

“We want to be seen as partners in creating more co-op housing,” he said. “It is possible to take that profit imperative off the table, and then housing becomes a different prospect.”

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