Editor:
Re: “Council adjusts short-term rental bylaw priorities,” coastreporter.net, Oct. 8.
This is wonderful news! I’m so proud of and grateful to the Town of Gibsons for moving “protecting housing for residents” from fourth place to first place and making preserving long-term rental housing supply its top priority, when reviewing its bylaws around short-term rentals.
In a near-zero rental-availability market, I know how traumatizing, life-crushing, and terrifying it is to lose your living space. I can’t even imagine how anxiety-provoking and depressing it must be to have kids and a job and still not be able to find a place you can afford to live in.
I read a plea the other day for sleeping bags and tents as the cold season approaches. Though I applaud the sentiment, it’s inhumane to even think for a moment that tents are a decent excuse for shelter for humans all through winter, when many are already suffering from mental illness, addictions, or suicidal despair. I wouldn’t treat a dog that way, to be blunt. Sure, drives for coats, sweaters, and gloves might make donors feel better, but soaked clothes and bedding after a stormy night spent in a tent just don’t cut it.
I know the town is heartfelt in its concerns for renters across a wide spectrum of incomes, not just lowest-income residents, and I applaud their courageous change of priorities, despite probable pressure from individuals seeking to gain significant profit from Airbnb rentals. I hope life never finds those individuals facing homelessness. The only good that seems to come of it is empathy for others going through the same nightmarish situation.
Janice Williams, Gibsons
