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Matt Cherry running in Revelstoke’s byelection

Advance polls are coming up Feb. 3 and 10, with election day on Feb. 13
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Matt Cherry is running to be a Revelstoke City Councillor in the upcoming byelection. (Submited/Matt Stepchuck)

Matt Cherry wants to bring his first-hand knowledge of the housing and rental market to the council table.

His name will be on the ballot in the upcoming byelection in February.

Cherry, whose business owns six long-term rental houses in Revelstoke, said a house he bought six years ago for $240,000 would sell for around $800,000 right now.

“That sort of growth is completely insane,” he said. “The advantage is all mine in that and I am the one that has a problem with it.”

Cherry said he would like to see a wider variety of housing units being built, such as townhouses and duplexes.

“We are losing a lot of good people due to the cost of housing, including families, whether that be rental or homeownership,” he said.

READ MORE: Tim Palmer running for vacant council seat

Other things Cherry would like to see include updates to the Development Cost Charges bylaw and having the City take a hard look at the cash-in-lieu of parking bylaw, which he says is hindering development.

He said people have shared concerns that the increase in property taxes hasn’t lead to the infrastructure upgrades they would like to see, such as road maintenance, sidewalks for kids to use when walking to school and upgrades to the sewage lagoon to prevent odour.

“One of the issues is going to be how do we do this without increasing taxes,” he said.

Cherry first discovered Revelstoke when the resort opened. He visited for a few weeks every winter, eventually buying a home and moving from Ontario to the city eight years ago.

At the moment he rents the place he lives in, saying when plans changed he decided to stay put rather than kick out any of his tenants.

In the end, Cherry said he wants to be another person at the table that is willing to engage and communicate with residents and bring their concerns and ideas to council.

The byelection is coming up in February, with mail-in-ballots accepted from everyone, advanced polling days on Feb. 3 and 10 and general voting day on Feb. 13.

The seat has been vacant for almost one year after Steven Cross resigned on Jan. 21, 2020.

READ MORE: City pushes residents to vote by mail in upcoming byelection


 

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jocelyn.doll@revelstokereview.com

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