Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Court Decision on Vacation Rentals

October 30, 2012
BC SUPREME COURT RELEASES DECISION ON WESTCOAST VACATIONS INC.
VICTORIA - The Supreme Court of British Columbia has not supported an attempt launched last term by the Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee to more effectively enforce community zoning related to short term vacation rentals (STVRs) on Salt Spring Island. The local bylaw prohibiting STVRs remains in place, but an attempt to enforce the bylaw by focusing on a vacation rental agent, rather than individual STVRs, has not been successful.
In March 2011, the local trust committee instructed Islands Trust legal counsel to seek an injunction that would restrain Westcoast Vacations Inc. from using or facilitating the use of residential homes for STVRs on Salt Spring Island. With the advent and growth of STVR booking agencies, enforcement of the community zoning bylaw has been more difficult and more costly for taxpayers.
The case was argued in court before the Honourable Mr. Justice Leask of the BC Supreme Court on October 25 and 26, 2011. Legal counsel for the local trust committee argued that Westcoast Vacations Inc. was using or permitting the use of residentially zoned properties for commercial guest accommodation, and was thereby breaching Salt Spring’s Land Use Bylaw.  Westcoast Vacations did not argue that STVRs were a legal land use, but argued that only the individual owners of the properties could be subject to court injunction preventing this use.
In his Reasons for Judgment released on October 29, 2012, Mr. Justice Leask, noted that “Commercial guest accommodation use is not a permitted primary or accessory use of any land in the Residential Zones.” However, he found that the activities of Westcoast Vacations do not, on their own, constitute a breach of the bylaw, in that Westcoast Vacations could not prevent or prohibit the use of a property for an STVR.
“This was an effort to make bylaw enforcement more efficient, given the SSILTC’s direction last term to actively enforce the land use bylaw regarding STVRs,” said Miles Drew, Islands Trust Bylaw Enforcement Manager. “I will now seek further direction from the current local trust committee as to how it wishes to proceed.”
Salt Spring’s long-standing Official Community Plan policies and zoning regulations prohibit STVRs - the use of private homes in rural and residential zones for commercial guest accommodation. The prohibition does not affect legal bed and breakfasts in residential zones, or legal resorts, hotels and motels in commercial zones, all of which are widely available on the island. People may also continue to rent portions of cottages as part of a bed and breakfast operation in most zones and to rent their residential properties for periods longer than 30 days to a tenant for residential use. - End.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's almost like Tofino......The Shore asks for licence to have short term rentals, council says "No", so The Shore goes ahead and has short term rentals .......and it appears that no one can do a darn thing about it.
Council should have just said "Yes".....then at least the district could collect the license fees. (and property tax The Shore (and all the other unlicensed short term rentals) at commercial rates instead of residential).
How is it that an illegal rental business can, in effect, "steal" from residential and properly zoned and licensed commercial property owners by failing to pay their own fair share of the tax burden and no one in authority does anything about it?
It's quite common knowledge that illegal short term rentals exist in Tofino. TOFINO IS FULL OF UNLICENSED SHORT TERM RENTAL PROPERTIES! Why not change the approach to dealing with them? Make them legal. Give them a license. Tax them!
Don't the honest, legal, licensed accomodation providers deserve, at least, a level playing field?
Why can't council pull their heads out of the sand and address this totally unfair situation?

Anonymous said...

Council turns a blind eye to illegal vacation rentals but will attack local businesses over their signs !
Every vacation rental at the shore and south chestermans condos are illegal.

Anonymous said...

So they will bust you if you park illegally in front of one of the many illegal vacation rentals at Chestermans ? But not bust the illegal vacation rental ?? This is nuts .

Anonymous said...

The sad part for me is there are owners who live locally shop locally and spend their money locally. These vacation rentals and the people who run them just send the money out of town. We could have other ways to support locals and tax the money leaving.... just think about filling all those pot holes or creating more for infrastructure for locals......

Anonymous said...

the majority of vacation rentals in Tofino now are owned by locals who live locally,spend their money locally.The guests who they accommodate also spend their money locally to the benefit of all local business...check tourism tofino's web site to see all the vr's that are owned and operated by locals...
Also any person or manager taking care of more than 4 properties collects the 2% hotel tax part of which ends up coming back to the District of Tofino to spend on improving Tofino's infrastructure.

Anonymous said...

Dear 12:35PM,
I totally agree with what you say... but it needs to be pointed out that all these benefits only apply to legal, licensed premises......the illegal unlicensed guys get a free ride on contributing to this great pot of benefits. They pay no fees, no taxes, cheat the insurance providers, avoid commercial tax rates. The legal guys provide advertising, promotion and maintenance of the infrastructure and the illegal guys hang on and reap the benefits while contributing nothing.
It's not fair. It needs to be changed.
Of course, if you've got an illegal rental, then the system is working great for you. Or should I say, the system simply isn't working.

Anonymous said...

short term rentals (VR"S) are legal in tofino and operate under a home occupation bylaw the same as B@B's.The District does not tax these properties at commercial rates. Any insurance provider has their own parameters in which to insure these properties under so not sure how these owners would be "cheating" ins.co's if they want adequate ins...?

Even if an owner (local or non local) of a "managed property" say forgets to take out a license or was operating prior to the bylaw mentioned above and now can't qualify then the 2% is still collected on the rev.it generates.
Anyone who operates their own unit or manages less than 4 units do not collect the 2% tax and therefore do not contribute to those tax revenues coming back to Tofino and its residences'.(which over time would add up to much more than a bl fee.