Councillors in Gibsons have given the OK for planning staff to go beyond what was suggested by the previous council as they draft new bylaws to regulate short-term rentals.
Last May, Gibsons council passed a motion to have the planning department draft amendments that would include: restrictions on the number of guests, increased fines and licence fees, and a requirement that landlords have a local contact available if they’re not in town themselves.
During a discussion of the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s (SCRD) request for input on its proposed short-term rental bylaws at the Jan. 8 committee of the whole meeting, director of planning Lesley-Ann Staats asked councillors to endorse expanding the scope of the amendments beyond what was suggested in the May 2018 motion.
The additional considerations included adding language to restrict short-term rentals to a person’s principal residence, setting a maximum number of adults per bedroom and restricting the number of bedrooms that could be rented based on the availability of on-site parking.
Staats’ report said, “The proposed changes would allow property owners (or tenants, with permission of the property owner) to earn additional income from their properties and create opportunities for short-term stays by visitors, while helping to maintain the pool of affordable long-term rentals, and manage any impacts to the surrounding community, such as noise and parking.”
Coun. David Croal, who has experience in property management, said he felt the bylaws should also include strata properties.
“Most strata councils do have within their bylaws restrictions on rentals or a limit on the number of units that can be rented… We should ensure that any short-term rentals within stratas are with the permission of the strata and that they’re not violating any of the bylaws for the strata complex itself.”
Coun. Stafford Lumley argued for going one step further and not allowing short-term rental of strata units. “If we could create more long-term housing by excluding stratas, that would be my choice,” he said.
Coun. Aleria Ladwig raised another issue she felt planners should look at – whether having a local contact is enough. She said requiring short-term rental operators to be on site would allow for better oversight.
“If you have an on-site operator, or this is a room that’s being operated out of somebody’s residence, you’re going to be the first one to deal with a difficult tenant because they’re in your house,” Ladwig said, adding that it could also act to prevent short-term rentals from eating up too much of the potential long-term rental stock. “It limits the number and type of short-term rentals we can have in the community and opens up more options for long-term rentals.”
The committee voted to recommend both the inclusion of strata properties and requiring on-site operators as well as prohibiting garden suites and “other accommodations that were developed for affordable housing or long-term rental specifically.”
“Right now we’re in an affordable housing crunch,” said Mayor Bill Beamish. “We need affordable housing and I don’t think we can afford to give up housing that’s currently used [as long-term rentals]… Our priority should be to ensure there’s affordable housing in the community.”
