As the District of Sechelt wraps up its short term rental (STR) consultations, it looks like the community’s wishes align with council priorities for proposed STR regulation updates.
On March 30, Sechelt hosted an online meeting to summarize the findings of the consultations.
There was agreement that “encouraging community fit” should be the primary consideration. The importance of protecting long-term housing rental supply, equity in business regulations, support for the tourism industry and enabling property owners to supplement their income, ranked as less important goals to consider in governing STRs.
Sechelt introduced rules for renting accommodations in residential properties for terms of less than 30 days in 2015. Concerns regarding neighbourhood disruptions caused by STRs and a deepening residential housing crisis propelled the need to reconsider those regulations in 2021. In response, the municipality prioritized the project last year and intensified consultations over the past two months.
Sechelt hired consulting firm EcoPlan International to do consultations and draft the update. At the March 30 meeting, Shanti Thurber of EcoPlan emphasized that the information presented represented the results of the consultation – they were not guaranteed to be the exact recommendations to be brought forward for council consideration later this month.
Thurber pointed out that 446 of 857 survey respondents indicated they “strongly objected” to licensing of “commercial” STRs where a manager of the property is not required to be on-site during the rental period.
A “simplified” approach to fees for STRs, was also widely supported. Results favoured fee levels that “fully cover the cost of regulation” of the industry.
A consideration that was not supported in the consultation was the suggestion of limiting the number of days properties could be rented as STRs. Thurber stated that type of approach would be difficult to monitor and enforce.
Eco Plan’s recommendations are set to come before council in a community of the whole meeting April 13. The meeting starts at 3 p.m. and the public can attend in person at the District office or participate online through Zoom.
