Darla McGuirk is among the growing number of people raising concerns about short-term rental properties causing problems in neighbourhoods, including hers in the Lower Mission of Kelowna.
“We didn’t buy in this neighborhood to live in a hotel zone, and we’ve got a hotel operating full-time behind us,” McGuirk said.
The home is advertised as a private luxury oasis online but neighbours say for two years now it’s been anything but an oasis for them.
“There’s all kinds of groups that come through — bachelorette parties, you know, bachelor parties, large family, multifamily groupings — and they’re very loud,” said Mark Sadlowski, another concerned area resident.
While the home may have a licence to operate, neighbours say the owners are breaking both the municipal bylaws and provincial legislation because they don’t believe it is their primary residence.
“Nobody has ever moved in,” said McGuirk. “We’ve actually known all the neighbours that have lived there in the past because we’re outside a lot.”
Sadlowski, who lives on a neighbouring property, also doesn’t believe the home is anyone’s principal residence.
“It doesn’t appear to be a home for anybody other than, you know, groups of people,” he said.
McGuirk has lodged complaints with both the province and city, which, according to McGuirk, said it was investigating more than a year ago and still nothing has changed.
In an email to Global News, the city said a municipal licence to legally operate a short-term rental requires a homeowner to live at the property for a minimum of 240 days per year.
But proving that residence seems to be based merely on trust because when the city has concerns about a STR (short-term rental), it said it ‘does ask for the licensee to provide an account of the number of days they have stayed at the property, but does not have the ability to track residents’ movements or residency days.’
It’s an honour system that McGuirk said clearly doesn’t work.
“I think the city needs to do more enforcement when they make rules, because there’s no use making a rule if you’re not going to enforce it,” McGuirk said.
While it did not provide an exact number, the city confirmed it is presently actively monitoring and investigating a number of properties operating as short-term rentals to ensure they are in compliance.
The province will be launching a short-term rental registry in January that B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said will help enforcement efforts.