Several proposed regulations for STR market in Nelson
By Timothy Schafer
Nelson City council is ready to delve back into the short-term rental legislation, with further readings of a draft bylaw back on the table for debate and possible further refinement.
Here are several proposed regulations city staff drafted for the STR market in Nelson:
- STRs would be allowed almost everywhere, however city-wide caps and a density cap are proposed in residential areas, in light of general support for this through public consultation (this is intended to maintain the integrity of residential neighbourhoods. Any property owner is free to apply to rezone to commercial, if that is their intention for the property). A density cap would help ease on-street parking competition without requiring new off-street parking to be built at great cost to resident-operators and Nelson’s natural capital;
- Distinguish between rooms for rent (such as a conventional bed and breakfast) and entire dwelling units;
- A new business licence category of up to $800 for a year-round, entire-dwelling unit rental;
- The availability of monthly and summer-only licences to facilitate occasional home sharing and to enable landlords of student housing to create needed summer tourist accommodation supply;
- Year-round licence-holders to contribute to funding tourism marketing;
- Fire safety inspections and a one-time proof-of-insurance requirement;
- Allow for the short-term rental of multifamily building units for the first time, provided that the property owner/manager or strata council has no objection;
- A principal residency requirement, supported by public consultations; applicants must demonstrate that the property is their principal residence. A new zone is proposed to allow for the possibility of a non-resident property owner to rezone a secondary residence for STR purposes. Nelson already requires potential B&Bs outside of commercial areas to rezone if they wish to have more than two guest rooms;
- Initial priority to existing STRs and bed and breakfast’s, but licencing requirements will still be obligatory.
- A process to revoke a licence in the case of a problematic STR.
- An online, publicly-accessible directory of all licenced short-term rentals and their 24/7 contact.
