No Vacancy: Vacation rentals persist despite illegality

Part 3, and the final piece, of No Vacancy, an ongoing series about creative solutions to address Osoyoos’ lack of housing. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

By Dale Boyd

Osoyoos Times

Vacation rentals are not a new premise, but their proliferation and ease of access with websites like Airbnb or VRBO may be impacting rental markets, especially ones with limited supply like Osoyoos.

Rentals for less than 30 days are not permitted in Osoyoos under current bylaws, but vacationers will find it easy to stay for a week or a few days at the many properties and guest rooms posted through online curators.

Town of Osoyoos director of planning and development services, Gina MacKay, said she is hoping residents will use the opportunity for input in the Official Community Plan process to explore the issue moving forward.

“Short-term rentals are not allowed. Less than 30 days is not permitted. We only just have bylaw enforcement on board now. We haven’t really been in a position to enforce that. The greater community doesn’t understand, I don’t think, or they ignore it, that they are not a permitted use,” MacKay said.

It does not take much investigation to find vacation rental properties. Many remain unlicensed in Penticton, where ongoing efforts with Host Compliance, a company which helps to track this type of rental, still leaves many unaware or unwilling to pay associated fees. The Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen’s Vacation Rental Temporary Use Permit Policy costs property owners a $700 application fee for a seasonal temporary use permit, with $350 to renew each year, and municipalities in BC continue to explore the issue in different ways.

• Read more: Peanut Lake development not allowed to have age restrictions

Local realtor Linda Davreux said the short-term rentals “do have an impact on long-term rentals because those are suites that would otherwise be available for people that want to live here year-round,” adding the impact would be fewer long-term units available if they were being used for short-term purposes.

Sonia Kucharonok’s company Eye 4 Detail Cleaning Services, has been cleaning vacation homes for 25 years, long before the advent of online vacation rental sites. Living in Osoyoos for the past four years, she has about 25 clients.

A less intensive and lower commitment way to rent out space, she understands why many would be attracted to creating a vacation rental over hosting long-term renters.

“I know a few houses right now are empty because there were renters in them and they destroyed the houses. I know one house, the renter stole all the appliances from the owner,”  Kucharonok said. “Not everybody is like that, but now they are coming to the vacation (rentals) they want to rent their home (short-term) because they know somebody is always going to be cleaning the house, that it’s going to be taken care of.”

The rotation of snowbirds in and out of the community is another part of the complex housing apparatus, Mayor Sue McKortoff said. Along with vacation rentals, many who move away and back for the season avoid a three per cent hotel tax, which returns funding to the community.

“When snowbirds come in the wintertime and stay for a month, two months, they do not pay that hotel tax. They only pay on nightly rooms,” McKortoff said.

• Read more: Housing prominent theme of Official Community Plan launch

The town has been working with BC Housing and the province is investing in future development, according to an un-attributed statement from BC Housing.

Next spring, the province said it is launching a second intake of the Community Housing Fund to begin work on delivering thousands of homes.

“Through this fund, which focuses on building affordable rental homes for seniors and families, work is already underway on more than 5,000 homes in communities throughout B.C. We welcome new proposals next year form all municipalities, including the (Town) of Osoyoos, to provide even more new housing options,” BC Housing stated.

New tools like housing needs assessments and rental zoning are intended to help increase the supply of affordable rentals as well, the statement said.

The issue remains top of mind as the OCP starts the process of laying the groundwork for the future of Osoyoos.

“I know we have to do a housing strategy as part of the OCP,” McKortoff said. “It’s our job to really make sure we make good land-use decisions so we can encourage investors, and encourage all different types of housing.”

• Read more: Province recognizes Osoyoos as age-friendly

She said the exploration of pre-fabricated, modular housing in communities like Vernon is a possibility Osoyoos may need to look at.

“Land is expensive and then you put a house on top of it, it’s not affordable for everybody,” McKortoff said. “If you can look at other ways of doing housing and making things affordable for people, you have got to look at all those angles.”

Living in Osoyoos for 50 years, she said the issue is not localized to just the town.

“It is very, very tricky but in Osoyoos we certainly have rental housing needed, and we’re looking at doing things like that with BC Housing over at the Palms (by the Lake),” McKortoff said.

A developer donated land to the municipality almost two years ago, and it is a possible spot for more affordable housing developments, McKortoff said.

“We won’t do it until we have some public consultation on it, but we need to look at everything. Businesses and so on need to come up with good ideas, many of them have,” McKortoff said. “You have to go through the proper title search, and you have to talk to the land owners of phase one of the Palms, we have to have lawyers involved,” McKortoff said. “It’s been a year and a half, closer to two years since we’ve been given the land and we still haven’t started because there are too many regulations and rules you have to get through.”

Every municipality faces housing issues, and as Osoyoos starts to map out the blueprint for the future of the town housing is sure to be a focus as the town plans for the 2020s and beyond.

“We’re not any different than anywhere else. Everybody is going through this and it is top of mind, for sure.”