Rate of vacant storefronts is 'just atrocious' Vancouver mayor says of idea for new tax

A step is being taken to determine whether B.C. municipalities can tax empty businesses – similarly to empty homes – after a vote from Vancouver city council.

A step is being taken to determine whether B.C. municipalities can tax empty businesses – similarly to empty homes – after a vote from Vancouver city council.

Council voted Tuesday to have Mayor Kennedy Stewart ask the province to explore a tax for empty commercial properties. Stewart made the suggestion himself, as an amendment to a report on distribution of property tax levy.

"My worry is that now that we've been so effective with our Empty Homes Tax and forcing residential properties off the market into the rental market, that … investors are buying commercial properties, sitting on them, waiting for them to deteriorate," Stewart said introducing the amendment Tuesday.

"We've up to 20 per cent vacancies in some neighbourhoods, which is just atrocious. So this again would be a tool that we could explore."

Coun. Adriane Carr said she thought the amendment was "fantastic," sharing an anecdote about a pub in her neighbourhood that she said has been sitting empty for years.

"Those store fronts that are boarded up and not active, they really are a blight in the neighbourhood in terms of decreasing the public interaction and the liveliness of a neighbourhood," Carr said during the meeting.

The councillor said she hopes there will be consideration made for any extenuating circumstances, especially given the city's lengthy permitting process.