New Regulations for Short Term Rentals

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Consultation has concluded

Archived as per Barbara Everdene 17Jan2024

The number of short-term rental (STR) accommodations has been on the rise, and the City of Vernon is seeking input on short-term rental regulations. Public and stakeholder engagement will help to inform the development of short-term rental regulations in Vernon.

Introduction

In May 2020, the City gathered community feedback on the short term rental (STR) industry in Vernon. This first round of public engagement recognized the valuable role that short term rentals play in our community, while also discussing challenges presented by this industry. Overall, the majority of those who participated were supportive of regulations to meet the needs of the community as a whole.

Drawing on these engagement results and a review of best practices in STR regulation, the City has developed the following guiding principles:

  1. Mitigate the impact of STRs on the long term rental housing supply to support the community's need for affordable housing;
  2. Promote peaceful residential neighbourhoods and limit nuisance from STRs;
  3. Maintain vibrant and safe residential neighbourhoods;
  4. Promote equity among tourism accommodation providers; and
  5. Support the needs of a vibrant local tourism industry.

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Short term rentals and housing needs in Vernon

Like many other cities in BC and Canada, Vernon does not have enough available rental units to meet the need for housing. The vacancy rate is tracked by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which currently shows Vernon at 0.7% (October 2021 data). Research has confirmed that STR industry growth can cause the loss of current and future housing, particularly in neighbourhoods where:

  • the vacancy rate is low;
  • there are many short term rental operations in homes that are not principal residences; and
  • there are many short term rental operations that do not have an owner or their designate on site during the rental.

As a popular tourism destination community, we know that Vernon's local short term rental industry is growing. Through our Official Community Plan and affordable housing commitments, the City of Vernon is committed to preventing the loss of rental housing, particularly in our City Centre and Neighbourhood Districts.

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Our proposed regulatory approach 

Informed by the guiding principles, the City of Vernon has developed an approach for short term rental regulations that will involve amendments to our business licensing and zoning bylaws. This would involve adding two new business licensing categories to Business Licensing Bylaw #5480, as follows:

1. STR Minor License: This would allow an operator in any residential area of the City (shown as the blue and orange areas on the map below) to use a portion of their principal residence as a short term rental unit, and require a responsible person to be residing on the site and available as needed to manage the operation; and

2. STR Major License: This would allow an operator in the Hillside Residential and Agricultural District or the Waterfront Neighbourhood Plan Area (shown as the orange area on the map below) to use a portion of, or their entire property, whether a principal or secondary residence, as a short term rental unit. This license would require that there be a responsible person available on a 24-hour basis as needed, but this person does not need to live on site.


Your feedback is important to us

Introducing regulations on short term rentals may impact your neighborhood and/or your business operations. We want to hear from you. Please email us directly with any questions (for email addresses, refer to the Who's Listening section on the right sidebar).

We invite you to take the survey before it closes on July 31, 2022.


Please note: A 'Guestbook' feature was previously available on this page, which allowed users to submit open-ended feedback. We apologize for the mistake, but we did not intend to include that feature on this project page. Instead, we included a similar comment box within the July 2022 survey, which can be accessed below. The Guestbook feature has been removed; however, we'd like to confirm that all comments already provided in that space will be part of the consultation record and provided to Council for review and consideration.

Introduction

In May 2020, the City gathered community feedback on the short term rental (STR) industry in Vernon. This first round of public engagement recognized the valuable role that short term rentals play in our community, while also discussing challenges presented by this industry. Overall, the majority of those who participated were supportive of regulations to meet the needs of the community as a whole.

Drawing on these engagement results and a review of best practices in STR regulation, the City has developed the following guiding principles:

  1. Mitigate the impact of STRs on the long term rental housing supply to support the community's need for affordable housing;
  2. Promote peaceful residential neighbourhoods and limit nuisance from STRs;
  3. Maintain vibrant and safe residential neighbourhoods;
  4. Promote equity among tourism accommodation providers; and
  5. Support the needs of a vibrant local tourism industry.

___________________________________________________________
Short term rentals and housing needs in Vernon

Like many other cities in BC and Canada, Vernon does not have enough available rental units to meet the need for housing. The vacancy rate is tracked by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which currently shows Vernon at 0.7% (October 2021 data). Research has confirmed that STR industry growth can cause the loss of current and future housing, particularly in neighbourhoods where:

  • the vacancy rate is low;
  • there are many short term rental operations in homes that are not principal residences; and
  • there are many short term rental operations that do not have an owner or their designate on site during the rental.

As a popular tourism destination community, we know that Vernon's local short term rental industry is growing. Through our Official Community Plan and affordable housing commitments, the City of Vernon is committed to preventing the loss of rental housing, particularly in our City Centre and Neighbourhood Districts.

___________________________________________________________
Our proposed regulatory approach 

Informed by the guiding principles, the City of Vernon has developed an approach for short term rental regulations that will involve amendments to our business licensing and zoning bylaws. This would involve adding two new business licensing categories to Business Licensing Bylaw #5480, as follows:

1. STR Minor License: This would allow an operator in any residential area of the City (shown as the blue and orange areas on the map below) to use a portion of their principal residence as a short term rental unit, and require a responsible person to be residing on the site and available as needed to manage the operation; and

2. STR Major License: This would allow an operator in the Hillside Residential and Agricultural District or the Waterfront Neighbourhood Plan Area (shown as the orange area on the map below) to use a portion of, or their entire property, whether a principal or secondary residence, as a short term rental unit. This license would require that there be a responsible person available on a 24-hour basis as needed, but this person does not need to live on site.


Your feedback is important to us

Introducing regulations on short term rentals may impact your neighborhood and/or your business operations. We want to hear from you. Please email us directly with any questions (for email addresses, refer to the Who's Listening section on the right sidebar).

We invite you to take the survey before it closes on July 31, 2022.


Please note: A 'Guestbook' feature was previously available on this page, which allowed users to submit open-ended feedback. We apologize for the mistake, but we did not intend to include that feature on this project page. Instead, we included a similar comment box within the July 2022 survey, which can be accessed below. The Guestbook feature has been removed; however, we'd like to confirm that all comments already provided in that space will be part of the consultation record and provided to Council for review and consideration.