Kamloops council will hear from the public on proposed bylaw permitting short-term rentals in city limits

Photo: Airbnb

The City of Kamloops will hold a public hearing about proposed changes to its zoning bylaw that, if approved, will allow short-term rentals to operate in city limits.

While many operate short term rentals in Kamloops, the city’s zoning bylaws don’t allow for such property use — and there isn’t even a short-term rental definition that appears in the bylaw.

Last month, council’s committee of the whole directed staff to prepare bylaw amendments supporting short-term rentals under certain conditions — changes that would bring the city into alignment with new provincial legislation.

During a meeting last week Stephen Bentley, City of Kamloops community planning manager told council that if approved, these amendments will allow short term rentals — stays of 30 days or less — within a room or an entire dwelling unit on a property that is the principal residence of the owner.

Bentley said short-term rentals won’t be allowed on properties where there are home-based day cares or residential care homes.

“We're going to require a good neighbour agreement, and we're going to have a business license required for short term rentals [and] medium term rentals, and also if you're renting multiple suites on a property,” Bentley said.

Council unanimously decided to progress the proposed zoning bylaw changes to a public hearing, and approved the first three readings of the business licence bylaw amendments.

Business licence bylaw changes include requirements for a good neighbour agreement requirement and a business licence. The annual fee for the licence is set at about $67 per unit.

Licences will be required for all short-term rentals listed for less than 90 days on a platform like Airbnb or Vrbo. They will not be required for a suite that is a long-term rental.

Bentley said the B.C. government had originally required all short-term rental hosts to have a business licence by May 1 — but because a number of communities are still working on updating their bylaws, the province has granted an extension.

Hosts will now have until June 1 to register with a new provincial short-term rental registry, and they can submit proof of applying for a business licence instead of a copy of the license itself.

Bentley said a copy of the business licence must be uploaded to the provincial registry by Aug. 1.

“That gives a little bit of leeway to people that have an illegal suite,” Bentley said. “They have to legalize it, they need to go through and do some work before they can get their business license issued, gives them some leeway in being able to access that provincial registry and meet the provincial requirements.”

According to a staff report prepared for council, a new provincial enforcement unit will be monitoring compliance with the rules and will administer penalties for violations.

Coun. Bill Sarai asked whether Kamloops’ approach was similar to other communities who were needing to update their bylaws.

Bentley said the city tried to make sure it was “on point” with what’s out there currently.

“There was other bylaws that we thought were maybe a little bit overly restrictive — and so we tried to fine tune it for something that would be appropriate and workable for Kamloops’ situation,” he said.

Bentley noted city staff would be keeping an eye on the business licence bylaw and bringing forward any suggestions for fine-tuning regulations if needed.

The public hearing date for these zoning bylaw amendments has not yet been officially confirmed.