At a public hearing Tuesday, Council voted to not support a bylaw amendment that would have allowed short-term rentals in secondary suites and carriage houses.
“As a result of Council’s decision, short-term rental regulations remain the same as those originally implemented this past April,” said Laura Bentley, Community Planning Supervisor. “As with the original rules, short-term rentals will not be allowed in secondary suites or carriage houses.”
The potential change to the bylaw came as a result of feedback received at a public hearing on March 12, after which Council approved the original short-term rental regulations. Council also requested that staff prepare a text amendment to consider allowing short-term rentals in secondary suites and carriage houses. A public hearing for this text amendment was held on May 21.
“Under the rules, a homeowner or primary resident can legally rent their principal residence for periods of 29 days or less, and select tourist areas will continue to allow short-term rentals outside of an operator’s principal residence,” said Bentley.
Anyone looking to operate a short-term rental must apply for and be issued a short-term rental business licence by July 1, 2019.
The final regulations align with the Healthy Housing Strategy and reflect the diverse community needs and interests, allowing residents to operate short-term rentals in their principal residence while protecting long-term rentals, limiting impacts to neighbourhoods, and ensuring equity among all accommodation providers. The City will review the short-term rental regulations in late 2020.