Photo: Luc Rempel

The Columbia Shuswap Regional District board of directors felt a temporary use permit application to allow a short-term rental in Blind Bay highlighted some of the problems with its current system of approving these rentals on a case-by-case basis.

During a March 20 meeting, the board opted to defer a decision on the permit application in order to get an engineer’s report on the property septic system to see if it could handle the requested 10-occupant limit.

A staff report noted this particular Blind Bay property has also received multiple complaints from neighbours concerned about noise and that the short-term rental was operating without a permit.

In addition, when staff requested input from residences within 100 metres of the property, 11 responses came back opposed to the application. Only four responses were received with approvals for the STR.

“I want to use this temporary use application that's here to just draw awareness for the directors...about the need for us to have additional general conversation about short term rentals and our guidance policy,” said Natalya Melnychuk, CSRD board chair.

She noted this application in particular had a number of complaints and comments attached to it, but also received some notes of support.

“This is a tough one,” she said. “It is an area that is close to where I live in proximity, and there are people both for this in the context of having their own TUPs in near proximity, as well as those that are against.”

She suggested deferring the application due to concerns about the capacity of the septic system.

Melnychuk noted she has qualifications to design septic systems, and while she is not evaluating the system in that capacity she did think it merited further review. She requested a professional engineer provide comment.

Director Jay Simpson agreed with Melnychuk that proper septic system evaluation is important.

“I'm aware of a number of properties throughout the Shuswap Lakes that the septic system is an old Volkswagen or whatever,” he said. “And it needs to certainly be made clear to us that everything is going to run well when TUPs are issued.”

Staff clarified the TUP application included a report from a Registered Onsite Wastewater Practitioner, in adherence with the existing policy.

One director felt requesting an additional report beyond the existing policy could be unfair to the applicant.

“I wonder about this requirement for the engineer to look at things kind of midway through the process, could that be viewed upon as not being above board and fair?,” asked Director Rhona Martin. “Because they have provided information that we had obviously requested in their original application.”

Melnychuk said her intentions were to ensure the property could handle the 10-person capacity suggested in the application.

“I am asking that, instead of moving to defeat this at this point, if there are additional steps this applicant would like to take, that we need to go through that for doing our due diligence as a board and ensuring that this application for this number of people will not have a have a negative impact,” she said.

Short-term rental challenges

She said this TUP request highlights some of the difficulties the board faces when considering short term rental applications.

“We have some areas like the South Shuswap, where there is a need for short term rentals to bring tourism and economic development to our area,” she said, noting these rentals help accommodate the number of people visiting the area in the summer.

“That means, as we deliberate on these individual TUP’s, we're having to make a determination of should we just pass all TUPs because they are trying to tick all the boxes that the CSRD is asking them to do, or is there a level of scrutiny that we need to apply in a different way?

“And this is part of why our additional conversation around guidance is an important one, so that we have clarity on how to deliberate on these pieces, rather than doing it in a patchwork approach on a TUP by TUP basis.”

Director Marty Gibbons felt that the board was put in a difficult position.

“I don't know this owner, I don't know the situation, I am concerned by the number of complaints, but the position we're in now is we're pulling the rug," he said.

He said this person "could very well be relying on that to pay their mortgage every month or put food on their table.”

"I'm very uncomfortable with the position that we're in now," Gibbons said.

He noted while STRs were previously forbidden by CSRD zoning, the regional district had not been enforcing that zoning bylaw for many years before the recent changes to provincial legislation.

Melnychuk agreed that the board was stuck with a tough decision.

“How do we go forward in trying to recognize the important tourism benefit that short-term rentals provide, while also finding the right balance between long term owners and renters and the amount of short term rentals that may be in a smaller community?” Melnychuk said.

In the end, the board agreed to a deferral on the TUP decision until the applicant could come back with a professional engineer’s report on the ability of the septic system to handle 10 people on the property.