Gibsons council is considering 22 properties in the first wave of temporary use permits under the town's new residential guest accommodation (better known as short-term rental) regulations.
The regulations adopted in July set up two streams for the rentals: for dwellings that are primary residences and for dwellings that are not primary residences. The short-term rentals that are not in primary residences will require temporary use permits once the regulations’ grace period has lapsed in the new year.
Of the 47 residential guest accommodation (RGA) applications and pre-applications received, 37 were under stream two and 22 of those were brought forward for council. Most of the 22 are concentrated in the harbour and Lower Gibsons area, with a few spread farther away from the water.
At its Nov. 15 council meeting, Town of Gibsons Council approved sending out notice that the TUPs are under consideration.
The town's RGA policy proposed in May, suggests a cap of 50 TUPs. Some of the proposed evaluation criteria includes rental history (rental frequency, occupancy, review ratings), location (with preference in Lower Gibsons and Harbour area), history of complaints and feedback given by neighbours.
Public and neighbour notifications are under way. Notification is to go out through the newspaper and by mail to neighbours within 50 metres. Comments from neighbours and other referrals are to be brought back to council before it considers issuing the permits. The next scheduled council meeting is Dec. 6.
Mayor and council discussed the TUPs at a committee of the whole meeting earlier on Nov. 15. With several rental housing projects in the works Coun. Stafford Lumley cast doubt on how well the policy could be evaluated in terms of protecting housing supply. Lumley said he’d like to see council bring back the bylaw and discuss it at their strategy meeting, noting that he’d voted against it when it had come to council.
Coun. Annemarie De Andrade asked why council’s stated goals with the policy (increasing housing supply and not disturbing neighbourhood policy) were not included as evaluation criteria.
Director of planning and development Lesley-Anne Staats said that council had asked for an evaluation framework that’s still being developed for how well those priorities are being met.
Council also voted to have staff hold a public workshop or information session about the new regulations before the end of the year.
The properties applying for TUPs are:
- 862 O’Shea Road
- 509 Spyglass Place
- 659 School Road
- 636 Beach Avenue
- 749 Franklin Road
- 709 Steinbrunner Road
- 715 School Road
- 546 Marine Drive
- 316 Gower Point Road
- 320 Beachcomber Lane
- 348 Burns Road
- 362 Avalon Drive
- 689 Gibsons Way
- 379 Skyline Drive
- 1040 Celia Crescent
- 317 Gower Point Road
- Two units on lot: 496 Persephone Lane & 495 South Fletcher Road
- 633 Gower Point Road
- Two units on lot: 527 Marine Drive & 531 Marine Drive
- 433 South Fletcher Road
- 557 Marine Crescent
- 782 O’Shea Road
