Owner cries foul over short-term rental restrictions

Adrian Ainscough goes to his remote, oceanside cabin on Indian Arm to get away from the stresses of life and feel some peace and serenity.

It’s an experience he wants to share with others, so he lists his getaway — which he’s called Silver Water Cabin — on the short-term rental site Airbnb.

“It’s a beautiful house on the water,” Ainscough said. “I don’t want to deny other people enjoyment of my property when I’m not there.”

However, an official community plan proposed for Electoral Area A seeks to ban short-term rentals in two remote areas — the northern part of Indian Arm and west side of Pitt Lake — in the name of public safety and preserving rural character.

It’s the first time the electoral area, which covers more than 800 square kilometres of Metro Vancouver, will have an official community plan, which contains land use map designations and policies that set out the long-term vision for its communities.

The University of B.C. and its endowment lands are part of Electoral Area A, but will not be covered by the plan.

Metro Vancouver director Maria Harris, who represents Area A, said the electoral area committee she chairs came up with the idea of banning short-term rentals, including bed and breakfasts, on Indian Arm and Pitt Lake after hearing from property owners and considering their own experiences and those of other communities in dealing with short-term rentals.

“Those areas are typically seasonal dwellings with water-access only and therefore very difficult to control with policing and fire risks,” she said. “That’s really what drove the request by our committee and the approval by the directors of the board to restrict any type of short-term rentals in those parts of the electoral area.”

Harris said Metro consulted with electoral area property owners when drafting the official community plan and heard they were concerned about maintaining quiet, pristine rural areas.

There are about 120 water-access-only lots with about 80 cabins and houses on the part of Indian Arm included in Area A, and 39 permanent residents.

The area on the west side of Pitt Lake has 75 water-access cabins, most of which are used seasonally. There are about 35 permanent residents.

According to a recent staff report, there are fewer than 10 Airbnb listings in Electoral Area A. A search of the site showed two rental listings on Pitt Lake and four on Indian Arm, though exact addresses aren’t provided and they all may not be in Area A.

Ainscough finds the proposal maddening. He and his wife have held the lease on the cabin, which is on Crown land, since 2012 and bought it with the intention of renting it out a few days per week during four months of the year. Ainscough said they’re choosy about who stays and have never had a complaint.

“It’s frustrating because ultimately, if we get banned we have to sell the property because we can’t afford to keep it with our mortgage in the city and the leasehold. It would be unattainable,” he said.

He believes it’s unfair the prohibition will target so few people, and said he’ll be registering his opposition to the ban.

“I will fight it until I die because I feel singled out,” he said.

Harris believes the official community plan process has been positive and she hasn’t heard any objections, but she’s happy to receive more feedback.