The following are briefs from The District of Sechelt’s April 17 regular meeting.
Short-term rental business licence
Council adopted a new business licence amendment bylaw, bringing the bylaw into alignment with the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act, which will come into effect on May 1.
The act intends to give local government stronger tools to enforce short-term rental (STR) bylaws, return STR units to the long-term housing market and establish a new provincial role in the regulation of STRs.
Mayor John Henderson said that he flagged this topic for reconsideration because the March 20 meeting where council last spoke on it ran close to four hours, and raised concerns over whether every point was given enough time to be considered thoroughly.
The amendment was unanimously adopted.
Non-profit business licence rate reduction
Council also adopted another business licence amendment, reducing the rate of non-profit business licences.
Regular business licences in Sechelt cost $125, as of now, non-profit licences will only cost $1.
Most neighbouring communities have no charge for a business licence in a non-profit society except the City of North Vancouver, which charges $5.
The report clarifies that societies not operating a business do not need a business licence.
Examples of businesses in Sechelt that this will apply to starting 2025 are, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 140, YMCA Child Care Centre, Sunshine Coast Tourism, Sunshine Coast Healthcare Auxiliary Thrift Store and Salvation Army Thrift Store.
Kerianne Poulsen, corporate officer, said the district also discovered there were inconsistencies in the way they were issuing business licences to non-profits and that amendment equalizes the process.
Henderson asked how businesses would know if this new licence applies to them and if increased enforcement would be part of this change.
Poulsen said that enforcement is typically done by complaint and that the district does not plan to actively assess all non-profit organizations in Sechelt.
“We shouldn't be holding everybody's hand and making sure they're filing correctly and that they're categorized correctly,” Coun. Alton Toth said. “That at the end of the day is the responsibility of the directors of the organization, society, whatever you want to call it.”
The amendment was adopted with Henderson opposed.
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
