Vernon council at the regular meeting Monday, Apr. 8 (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

"We Shouldn't Be Rejoicing"

Vernon council has issues with short term rentals despite exemptions

Apr 11, 2024 | 6:00 AM

The City of Vernon remains concerned of the local impacts by the province’s regulations regarding Short Term Rentals (STRs).

In March, the B.C. government stated criteria for strata hotel and motel exemptions were being developed, but provided some preliminary information to provide clarity on how they could function as STRs.

The criteria, which will be finalized sometime in April, included operating in a manner similar to a hotel or motel before Dec. 8, 2023, by having a staffed front desk, having housekeeping services, and having a platform available for the owners of the units to use; or by having the proper zoning, a rental management agreement, and a covenant on the property before Dec. 8, 2023.

READ MORE: Strata hotels, motels exempt from new short-term rental rules

At city council’s regular meeting Monday, April 8, Roy Nuriel, Vernon’s general manager of city planning, said some properties may be close to qualifying under the preliminary criteria.

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“In our zoning bylaw, in our resort/residential area, we have a portion that [roughly] 30 per cent of the units within the zone could be used for a full-time, full-year resident, and the other portion of the units, the 70 per cent, still they are privately owned as part of the strata and they can be used as short term rentals, it’s already permitted,” Nuriel explained.

“So, as part of this clarification from the province, this type of strata complex can continue to function, but they need to follow the three rules: to have the housekeeping, to have the same platform, and to have a reception. So some of the complexes need to decide what next steps and what they’re going to do in order to qualify with that, and they need to follow the three rules in order to do that.”

Despite these exemptions, Vernon council still voiced some concerns with the regulations.

Councillor Kari Gares said unveiling the criteria in March only provided stratas with “a few short months” to meet those criteria ahead of the STR regulations coming into effect on May 1, as well as the start of the tourist season.

“It’s going to take all the property owners now to come together. Bylaws, strata bylaws are going to have to be changed; there’s going to be some inclusions that are going to need to happen, and those things, as we already know on our side, do not happen overnight,” Gares stated.

“I just want to go on the record and say that these exemptions, to me, we shouldn’t be rejoicing them because they’re a very small step in the right direction, [but] a lot of these property owners are still going to be hamstrung, to a degree, especially if they can’t even come to a consensus because this is actually going to increase their strata fees to be able to hire full-time housekeeping because a lot of these independent property owners pay for their own individual housekeeping, as opposed to doing it as a collective,” Gares added.

Gares said the province’s recognition on the need for strata hotel and motel exemptions was a collective effort from municipal leaders, chambers of commerce, property owners, and other stakeholders throughout B.C., though added pressure needs to continue to be put on the province to make changes and meet the needs of the public.

Councillor Brian Quiring inquired as to how the properties in Vernon could qualify if they didn’t have the reception and housekeeping in place by that Dec. 8 deadline, to which Nuriel said the properties were already permitted under the city’s zoning, but would still need to meet the above requirements to move forward.

Councillor Brian Guy said it did seem as though progress had been made on the STR front as many local properties could be eligible for the exemption, and those that aren’t now know what criteria they need to meet in order to qualify.

Mayor Victor Cumming asked if the city would have a role to play in assisting stratas understand the criteria. Nuriel replied the majority of stratas in Vernon are at Predator Ridge, which fully understands the regulations, and that bylaws were being developed to address STRs in residences, adding the province and the platforms hosting STRs have provided information to owners, so there did not seem to be a need to be involved any further.

It was also noted the city mailed out information relating to STR regulations to potentially- affected properties, inviting those owners to contact the city to learn more details on how to comply.

The STR discussion was held during the Administration Update part of Monday’s meeting, the report for which was received for information.