By Steve Hubrecht
The years-long process of regulating short-term rentals (STRs) in Invermere is another step closer to its end, and at long last there is a finish line in the crosshairs.
The District of Invermere is hoping to have all aspects of its planned new STR regulations in place by April, with the rules then taking effect in May.
Invermere council gave first and second reading to a new business licensing bylaw just before the winter solstice, at a special council meeting on the afternoon of Wednesday, Dec. 20. The bylaw, if adopted later on this winter, contains regulations dealing specifically with STRs. These will make it mandatory for STR operators to hold a business license issued by the district.
But the business licensing bylaw is only part of the new regulations; STRs operating in single family residential neighbourhoods and low density neighbourhoods will need to hold both temporary use permits (TUPs) as well as business licences. STRs operating in single family residential areas have been the source of friction for many Invermere residents, and drove complaints, outlined frequently in Invermere’s STR survey this fall, that STRs are destroying the fabric of the community.
Throughout the winter, district staff will be working on amendments to Invermere’s Official Community Plan (OCP) and zoning bylaw that will allow using TUPs to regulate STRs in single family residential areas. The amendments will also likely outline restrictions including a maximum of eight guests per STR, a limit of four bedrooms (and limit of two guest per bedroom) per STR; a limit of one business licence and one TUP per STR owner; mandatory noise monitoring; and mandatory on-street parking stalls. District staff will also be working on amendments to Invermere’s municipal ticketing information bylaw to allow a series of escalating fines for those who break the STR regulations.
The tentative timeline is for Invermere council to adopt the new business licensing bylaw in late January or early February, and to adopt the OCP and zoning bylaw allowing TUPs to regulate STRs in residential neighbourhoods in April. The municipal ticketing information bylaw amendments allowing fines for STR rule breakers will also likely be adopted in April. All new regulations would then take effect on May 1. (Not coincidentally that’s the same day the new provincial regulations on STRs come into effect in B.C. communities with populations of more than 10,000.)
The TUPs “will give us as full control as we can get,” Invermere Mayor Al Miller told the Pioneer. “We will ultimately get to decide what to allow and what not to allow.”
Miller added that it’s likely that only the STRs that have already been operating for some time, with no complaints, will get TUPs.
Asked if Invermere council planned to use the TUPs to limit the number of STRs in a given neighbourhood, Miller replied “I can’t really answer that.”
There was plenty of debate at the Dec. 21 special council meeting. Invermere councillor Gerry Taft said he felt the direction council is going with STR regulation is quite different than the model it had outlined to industry stakeholders back in summer 2023.
“There’s a lot of talk of caps on numbers of guests, numbers of STRs, and that sort of thing,” said Taft.
Other councillors disagreed.
“I don’t have too much sympathy for STR operators versus the people who can’t find affordable housing, and neighbours who are stuck dealing with problem STRs,” said councillor Kayja Becker.
Councillor Grant Kelly said the most valuable stakeholders in the equation are the residents who live in town year round. “We can’t lose sight of the fact that STRs have been growing so much without regulation,” said Kelly. “They’ve been running free and loose for so many years, including in this town.” Maintaining a sense of community and “fabric of life” is important, he added.
Taft conceded that “we don’t want something that is essentially a hotel operating in a single family neighbourhood” but added he feels that STRs are an important contributor to the valley’s tourism economy.
Miller did not share Taft’s hesitations. “I think we’ve heard a lot of talk. I would rather pull the trigger (on the business licensing bylaw readings) and start rolling this down the road,” he said at the meeting.
Action was also urged by Invermere chief administrative officer Andrew Young, who told council “there is a need for council to make a decision one way or the other on this body of work. This has been going on a long time . . . the public mood in this matter is starting to get a little testy.”
Those who feel they are affected by, or who want to comment on, the new business licensing bylaw or Invermere’s plan to regulate STRs in single family residential neighbourhoods with TUPs can appear before Invermere council at its Tuesday, Jan. 23 meeting. They can also submit written comments to the district by noon on Friday, Jan. 19.
STRs that operate in parts of Invermere in which STRs are legally allowed under current zoning will not need TUPs and will only need business licences. These zonings include C-1 downtown commercial zoning, RES-2A resort accommodation and recreation zoning, and R-3A cluster development medium density zoning, among other zonings.
The Lake Windermere Pointe condos (where a large number of STRs in Invermere are located) are RES-2A, while the strata development in the Pine Ridge neighbourhood is R-3A.
