Work underway to licence vacation rentals
Nearly 200 properties in Summerland are currently being operated as short-term rentals, meaning officials will have to tread carefully as they craft a new policy to regulate them.
Council at its meeting Monday voted 6-1 to direct staff to start work on a regulatory scheme based loosely on Penticton’s model, but with ample opportunities for public input before anything is finalized.
The draft version will include a licensing process to permit short-term rentals, with a maximum of six guests per unit, on any residential property.
“The simpler the better,” said Brad Dollevoet, the district’s director of development services, as he described staff’s recommended approach.
“If we over-regulate too much at the front end of things and we over-complicate the process, then we turn people away from the process, resulting in more enforcement
workload trying to chase people into it.”
While the majority of council was in favour of taking Dollevoet’s advice and letting public opinion decide key elements of the finalized approach, the lone dissenter
argued in favour of adding into the draft version a requirement for owners of shortterm rentals to live on their properties.
Coun. Doug Holmes said properties operating solely as short-term rentals without the owners present detract from neighbourhoods and are more likely to generate complaints about noise and other irritants.
“I think this is a real danger. This is fracturing communities all over the place,” said Holmes.
“We need to make it clear we don’t see short-term rentals as a business opportunity.”
Dollevoet cautioned, however, that people already do.
A company hired by the district searched public listings and determined there are 174 short-term rental properties already operating in Summerland, 90% of which are entire homes without the owners on site.
“So, there will be impacts if we go for a regulation like the owner has to be on the property at the same time (as guests). That means 90% of the 174 will no longer be allowed in the community,” said Dollevoet.
Public engagement is slated to start in September ahead of a final report being presented to council in November.