Parksville will request an exemption to the provincial government鈥檚 Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act.

City council voted to write a letter asking for an exemption that would allow short-term rentals in units that are not an owner鈥檚 principal residence in several Parksville land-use designations that include Resort Lands, Tourist Commercial, Downtown Waterfront and Restricted Recreation.

Mayor Doug O鈥橞rien said he brought up the motion after the city received 鈥渘umerous calls and inquiries鈥� from people in the listed areas who wanted to know if their tourist accommodation would need to be converted to a long-term rental.

鈥淭he concern which has not been addressed to our satisfaction by the provincial government, as to the details of it, is whether they would be lumped in with all the rest of the 鈥� let鈥檚 say the single family dwellings for short terms rentals,鈥� O鈥橞rien said during council鈥檚 Nov. 6 meeting.

The legislation was tabled by the BC NDP on Oct. 15, but key parts of it won鈥檛 come into effect until May 1, 2024.

It defines short-term rentals as any accommodation provided to the public for less than 90 consecutive days; establishes registries for both hosts and platforms like Airbnb, and an enforcement unit; toughens penalties for violators; and limits short-term rentals to principal residences and one additional unit per property.

O鈥橞rien mentioned concerns from owners of Resort Drive properties that they could be considered long-term accommodation under the new legislation.

鈥淪o that means our motel, hotel accommodation is going to dwindle because of that,鈥� he said.

City CAO Keeva Kehler said neither she nor the director of community planning and building were consulted by the province and did not know the legislation was coming.

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鈥淚 think what you鈥檙e trying to achieve is just that initial flag that we as a City of Parksville council have concerns,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat you鈥檙e putting something in place that really isn鈥檛 thinking of the full implications for our city in these specific areas where residential is not even permitted.鈥�

O鈥橞rien said he wanted to bring the motion to council sooner rather than later because the province said in meetings that details will follow.

鈥淚鈥檓 not sure that they have included those details yet, or got to those details,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we thought it may be influential upon us to get this to the province right away 鈥� if you鈥檙e going to consider it, please consider this.鈥�

Kehler said the regulation seems focused on large centres like Vancouver and not on smaller cities where the economy can be focused on one sector, such as Parksville.

鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing a decision from the provincial government that in some respects I would say, and trying not to be disrespectful to the province of course, but there seems to be a lack of understanding of the operational side from a local government,鈥� Kehler said.

Council voted unanimously to send a letter to Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin and Parksville Qualicum MLA Adam Walker.

-with a file from Wolf Depner