New zone only to apply to multiple family dwellings and not single family dwellings
The town's staff is recommending a solution to the thorny issue of residential rentals.
Staff are proposing resort-residential use of homes only be allowed in a special Commercial Residential zone, subject to a special rezoning in each specific case.
The new zone would only apply to multiple family dwellings, and not to single family dwellings, which cannot be rezoned as resort residential.rnMembers of Osoyoos town council were supportive of staff's findings.
What came out and was clear recently is that nobody wanted residential rentals, and that's been dealt with, councillor Tom Shields said.
Initial steps to introduce a new resort residential zone last summer were halted after a huge public outcry made plain the public's disdain for the idea.
Members of the public said it wasn't fair for the hotel industry to be required to obtain business licenses or to pay taxes for their businesses, when a private resident would not have to do so. They also pointed to possible noise and nuisance concerns stemming from weekly or monthly rentals.
But there are also property owners who would like to rent out their property while they are out of town. Council also noted at the time that enforcement of current bylaws prohibiting rentals is very difficult to enforce, particularly in the summer, when most properties would be rented out.
A group was formed in late summer to examine the possible courses of action for the town.
Three possible courses of action were outlined to council in the staff report. One option would be to leave the situation as is, preventing short term rentals in all single and double family dwellings, as well as multiple family dwellings such as condominiums.
But the report said the disadvantage of this approach is that Osoyoos might miss out on some worthwhile developments.
Another option is to allow Commercial Residential use in existing C4, or tourist commercial zones. This would have the advantage of providing flexibility to meet demands for resort residences, and they would be restricted to an already existing zone, so there would be no need to go through the process of creating a new zone.
But the report listed disadvantages to this approach, such as difficulty in containing the growth of resort residences, as well as inappropriate mixing between resort residential and other uses on the same site.
The third option, which the council decided was the appropriate course of action, is to allow resort residential rentals in a specially designated CR zone.
The report stated this option is similar to staff's original proposal, but responds to public concerns about protection of residential neighborhoods, as well as well as enforcement of regulations and fair competition with hotels and motels.
Restrictions in the zone include not allowing rentals of less than a week, targeting rezonings to lands which are already designated for tourist commercial use, and written Official Community Plan policies for protecting residential neighbourhoods and guarding against a proliferation of resort-residential developments.
Mayor John Slater stressed adoption of the new zone would be contingent on the consent of every member of the strata board of a multiple family dwelling.
There has to be unanimous consent, he said.
Councillor Ken Davreux said the town wants to do what's best for the community.
We want to protect the neighbourhoods, he said.
And councillor Bud Fraser said the town had come to recommend the resort residential policy after careful deliberation.
This hasn't happened overnight. A lot of planning went into this, he said.
Now that town council has adopted the resolution in the report, the planning department must draft a bylaw, to be read by council. The new bylaw will then go to a public hearing, where residents will be able to voice their objections or approval of the new zone.
