FAQs

Tourist commercial businesses have explained that they want a level playing field for businesses that have higher commercial operating costs (staffing, regulations, taxes). They may want to update their commercial tourist accommodations to meet current market demands, however residential STRs are a source of competition for tourist accommodation dollars.

In recent years, District of Sechelt Council and staff have heard from community members and STR operators that there is a need for regulations to protect the character of residential neighbourhoods, protect limited housing supply and promote regulatory equity for tourist commercial accommodation providers, who have higher operating requirements and costs. Direction on balancing these priorities was identified by Council members in December 2021. The information presented to the public at this time is intended to guide the drafting of STR regulations. (February 25, 2022)

• As dwelling units are converted to STRs the supply of housing available to residents shrinks, driving prices up.

• The ability to earn STR revenue – which can often exceed revenue from renting out a unit long-term – leads some tenants and purchasers to bid up the price of housing. These two harms are felt most acutely in communities already facing a housing shortage and/or affordability pressures, and where a locally-significant number of units have been converted to STR. 

• There is no way to study impacts of STR regulations in a community, without testing them and monitoring effects. It is recommended that the effects of STR regulations be monitored, reported to Council and adjusted, to ensure they are having the intended outcomes. 

STRs are recognized as providing important additional accommodation options in the District of Sechelt. However, STRs are not the only form of accommodation available. In addition to STRs, Sechelt has commercial tourist accommodations including 4 hotels / motels operating 89 rooms combined, 6 recreational vehicle/ mobile home parks and 3 campgrounds.

STRs compete directly with commercial tourist accommodations, and under the current regulations carry much lower operating costs. The District of Sechelt has heard from tourism businesses that they would like a level playing field for businesses with higher operating costs. Some cite that they wish to update their accommodations to meet current market demands, but are unable to as residential STRs are a source of competition for tourist spending and have an unfair advantage of lower operating costs.

The assessment of servicing capacity is addressed at the time of new development reviews.

In 2021, travelers spent $8M on accommodation and $15.2M on restaurants, activities, shopping, etc. The District of Sechelt recognizes that tourism is vital to our local economy and employment. 

The proposed regulations reflect a desire to balance community needs with the need to maintain adequate tourism accommodations. The proposed regulations would allow for an unlimited number of STR’s in principal residences and in separate suites on owner/resident properties (STR Accessory and STR Suites) throughout the District. In cases where the STR is not the owners’ principal home or property of primary residence, there is the STR Commercial category, with a maximum of 30 licenses proposed. 

District of Sechelt bylaw enforcement and planning staff have explained that STR neighbour complaints (ie noise, party houses, backyard fires, street parking issues) have been limited to unsupervised STR’s, where there is no full-time owner or resident on-site. In December 2020, the District of Sechelt heard from residents, stakeholders and community groups that most support STRs that have an owner resident during guest stays. Both the Type 1 and Type 2 STR categories require a full-time owner /resident. The proposed cap of 15 Type 3 Secondary Residence licences is intended to limit the number of STRs with an off-site owner or manager.

Type 3 - Secondary Residence applies to the rental of a home or apartment on a property where the owner does not primarily reside. This applies to vacation homes and investment properties. It allows for rental of any home or unit type, with local contact person(s) available for offsite management. The manager of the Type 3 STR must be reachable 24/7 and be able to respond quickly (within 30 minutes), should issues arise. The District of Sechelt also proposes to post the names and contact of STR managers on their website to better facilitate direct communications.

In the District of Sechelt, challenges with short-term rentals and neighbourhood fit have been identified most frequently, particularly in the absence of a resident/owner during guest stays or local contact person, who can quickly address nuisance issues. In addition, non-resident STRs are contributing to a lack of housing availability in Sechelt, as homes are being purchased for the purpose of commercial short-term rental use, which is increasing prices and reducing availability for long-term housing.

A tiny home on wheels does not qualify as a dwelling. If it qualifies as an RV of sorts then it could potentially be used for short term accommodation. The minimum zoning requirements for building: “No building containing a dwelling unit shall have a width less than six (6.0) metres, of which at least seven point three (7.3) metres (twenty-four (24.0) feet) or forty (40%) percent of the building length (whichever is greater) is enclosed climate-controlled habitable living area.”

The proposed District of Sechelt STR regulations (dated February/ March 2022), are designed to allow homeowners to rent out one STR unit type as a guest accommodation on their property of full-time residence (any type of unit can be an STR - there are no restrictions on unit type). If a person owns additional properties, this would fit into the STR Commercial category. There is a proposed limit of 30 commercial STR business licences for the entire District of Sechelt. The current proposal is to limit a maximum of one STR commercial licence per property owner or company

We hear that residents are concerned about the shortage of rental housing and perceived competition from short-term vacation rentals. The Sunshine Coast Regional District and the District of Sechelt collaborated on a Housing Needs Report in November 2020. This study estimated that in the District of Sechelt short-term rental units represent approximately 4% of private housing stock, or an estimated 194 units in the community (854 units or rooms on the entire Sunshine Coast). 

While the District of Sechelt recognizes that the rental market is under increasing pressures with regards to both vacancy rates and cost of rent, we believe that supporting a variety of options for housing and tourist accommodations is in everybody’s best interest.

There are no limits on the numbers of days proposed for any STR category. The intent with STR Accessory licence category is to allow full-time residents (owner or authorised resident) to rent their homes when they are away on vacation. The STR Accessory and STR Suites category will require proof of residency (or owners authorization).

There is no proposed limit on the number of rental days in a calendar year for any STR category, including Type 3 (as currently proposed, they can be rented 365 days a year). The draft regulations do state that for STR commercial this “applies to STRs that are available for rent at least half of the year (183) nights and are actually rented at least 90 nights in a calendar year”. 

Currently, there is no proposed maximum number of STRs proposed per block or per neighbourhood. The proposed cap of 15 Type 3 licences is for all of the District of Sechelt.

The District of Sechelt has limited staffing to monitor STR operations. Counting the numbers of people in a group, at any given time, is difficult to enforce. For this reason, restricting the size of STR guests/ groups is not proposed as a requirement.

Currently, there is no restriction on the number of guests (people) or bedrooms, in STR Accessory, STR Suites or STR Commercial category. There is a proposed requirement of 1 on-site parking stall per STR room, with a maximum of 3 parking spaces provided on the property. Parking is an achievable requirement for District staff to enforce.

A core principle for the District of Sechelt is to have business licence fees cover the cost of administering the STR program. Program costs include, setting up a new system, effectively communicating the regulations, setting up an online application system (more user-friendly), staff time to review applications, staff time to check for compliance (i.e., legal suites), paying third party compliance monitoring software and services, covering bylaw and enforcement staff costs, among others.

Proposed fees are based on the level of demand associated with the business type. The highest fees are for commercial operators (unhosted), as these are known to be most resource intensive of staff time and have the highest potential for neighbour complaints. 

It is recommended that the District of Sechelt use an STR monitoring company called Granicus to support proactive compliance monitoring, enforcement and ticketing fines. Failure to comply with business licence conditions are proposed to be subject to fines. It is recommended that fines increase to a grade of up to $500/ offence or day for non-compliance. Non-compliance would likely include failure to post the business licence number on online advertising platforms, negatively impacting neighbours use and enjoyment of property (ie. noise, fires, garbage), among others (consistent with future STR related bylaws).