As we enter into summer on Hornby, HISTRA and our members want to provide the community with an idea of what a legally operating Vacation Rental looks like under the current rules and reflect on the concerns we’ve heard about environmental impacts and crowded and noisy houses.
Over our 6 years HISTRA has worked hard with our members to help ensure they know and can meet the bylaws and support their visitors to tread more lightly in our community. Among many other things, we encourage, and some require, guests bring their linens, so they aren’t washed here. We help owners to set limits and monitor water use, ask guests take their garbage and recycling off island and some guests bring their own drinking water. You can read about more in our Best Practices guide on HISTRA.ca under the resources menu.
We want to be sure our community knows that a legally operating vacation rental will:
- only rent short term from May 1st to September 30th
- have parking off the street
- offer a maximum of 3 bedrooms, 4 on properties bigger than one hectare
just a note: the average maximum capacity of Hornby Vacation Rentals this year is 6
- follow the noise bylaws
- have a sign out front, including a contact number
- have only one guest group each week, though folks who are part of that group may come or leave at different times during the week
- NOT have tents or RVs on the property
- for those on Anderson, Whaling Station and High Salal, (the current high risk aquifer area in the bylaws) – have a certification that states the septic system can support residential and vacation rental use.
- have a provincial registration number
- pay PST, MRDT and, when required, GST
All of this is in our existing bylaws, provincial and federal regulations, so a Vacation Rental that rents out of season, has tents or RVs, doesn’t have a registration number or is noisy beyond what is allowed, by definition, is not legally operating.
Many Vacation Rentals shift back and forth between owners and rentals over the summer. If you have concerns about the actions of Vacation Rental guests in a neighbourhood, please reach out to your neighbour to talk with them. A one-on-one conversation can often clear up any confusion and create resolution.
In most cases a neighbour is grateful to know if those renting have brought more people than allowed or are making too much noise, and if it’s the owner, their family or friends, they will also want to hear neighbours’ concerns. Lots of families have big annual gatherings here each summer.
If you know it’s a Vacation Rental that isn’t following the bylaw requirements and a one-on-one conversation doesn’t resolve the concerns, you can contact the Islands Trust bylaw enforcement team at (250) 405-5196.
You can also fill out the form on this web page: https://islandstrust.bc.ca/mapping-resources/report-a-concern/
We know summer is a busy time for our community, we hope sharing this information helps us all live together and address any concerns with respect and compassion for everyone.
