Editor:
I have seen the light in regard to short-term rentals (STRs), and I hope Sechelt, Gibsons and the rest of the Coast will too.
Since my last trip to Ireland when I read in their local newspapers about how much STRs are depriving local, Irish families of housing, I have vowed to never stay in one anywhere again. As the Reporter quoted Gibsons Mayor Beamish as saying, STRs (with no resident owner/operator) “hollow out” a town. A town needs long-term residents, the only people who will support the community centres, shop in a variety of local businesses from garden shops to art supplies to auto supply and hardware stores, take music, dance, and fitness classes, volunteer their services, and know and care enough to vote. Only long-term residents become neighbours who are mutually answerable to each other’s needs for peace, quiet, and goodwill.
Yes, I have seen the light, and it doesn’t bode well for the future of STRs without a resident owner/operator since ultimately their only customers will be people without social consciences.
Kathleen Vance, Gibsons
