Short-term rental operators in Vernon, B.C. may soon have some new rules to follow.
The City of Okanagan is considering following the lead of other tourist cities and regulating the industry, which includes listings on popular sites like Airbnb and VRBO.
The municipality says some vacation rentals are currently having an impact on neighbors and there are concerns about the long-term rental market.
Specifically, the city says it has received complaints about problems such as noise and parking related to short-term rentals.
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A city report says there is also concern that the growing vacation rental sector is putting more pressure on Vernon’s long-term rental market, where the vacancy rate is only 0.7%.
Vernon’s proposed regulation, which the city council approved in principle this week, involves the creation of new categories of business licenses for short-term rentals.
Under the proposed new regulations, a minor short-term rental license would be available in any residential zone and would allow people to rent out part of their primary residence on a short-term basis, but a host of the property would have to live on site.
A major license would only be available in certain areas of the city and would allow an entire property to be rented on a short-term basis. With a larger license, a manager would have to be available 24 hours a day, if necessary, but would not have to live on-site.
The proposed bylaw has the support of Councilwoman Teresa Durning, who believes there is a need for structure in the sector.
“In terms of tourism I think it’s great and I think it’s beneficial, but again we don’t want everybody with a short-term rental to go off on their own and do whatever they want and allow chaos in the neighborhoods,” Durning said.
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Counting only units listed on Airbnb and VRBO, the municipality says there are 274 short-term rentals in Vernon.
Durning believes that rentals are valuable to the local tourist economy, but should be regulated.
“I think it’s a growing sector and it can only get better for us here in Vernon, but we don’t want all of our neighbors to have negative experiences because we haven’t regulated the sector. We have the ability to do that in the township and I think we’re on the right track,” Durning said.
None of the 10 Vernon Airbnb hosts Global News contacted for reaction were available for an interview before Tuesday’s broadcast deadline.
But in a message, one of the hosts told Global News that the owners still want access to their investment property in the summer, so they don’t rent long-term, year-round. Another host wrote that they “do not support more government overreach and frivolous bureaucratic measures.”
Notably, in a survey conducted in the city, only five of the 26 short-term rental hosts who responded said their space would have been rented to a long-term tenant if it was not being used for a short-term rental.
The city plans to refine the details of the proposed new regulations and gather more feedback in the coming months.
A public hearing is scheduled to be held in early September.
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