A woman has effectively turned her 1,700-square-foot North Vancouver home into a hostel, offering up to 15 beds in dorm rooms and private suites.
With a listing on Google Maps and its own website, the Oasis Hostel boasts accommodations with mountain views.
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The unit, which is no more than 1,700 square feet, offers a six-bed mixed dormitory, and another four-bed mixed dormitory. On top of that, there’s a two-bed budget suite and a three-bed comfort suite for a total of 15 beds.
Neighbours say they have spent tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours trying to shut the operation down, but to no avail.
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Erin Wasney says she sees a constant back and forth of people with suitcases up and down the pathway.
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“We’ve got strangers, we’ve got audible noise that has actually woken up my daughter in the middle of the night,” Wasney said. “We’ve had to call the cops lots.”
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That’s not the only cost.
The strata had to raise everyone’s fees to take owner Emily Yu to the Civil resolution tribunal, a case which the council won.
Now, it might have to do it again to legally enforce that ruling and more than $6000 in fines.
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“It’s terrifying. Those people are stacked on top of each other,” Wasney said.
While the number of short-term occupants and use of the basement are city bylaw issues, Yu doesn’t see it that way.
“I don’t see anything wrong with that,” she said. “A hostel that has 15 beds, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
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