Search for Tumbler Ridge on Airbnb.ca, and you’ll find four listings. However, there are no bylaws in place governing such rentals, which puts these businesses in a gray area. Recently, council has been looking at the pros and cons of allowing short term rentals like Air BnB in Tumbler Ridge.
According to CAO Jordan Wall, “there is an emerging demand from residents to start short term rental/ Air BnB-style accommodation businesses in Tumbler Ridge.” At the September 16, 2019 Council meeting, Council directed Administration to draft bylaw amendments that would allow for short term rentals in Tumbler Ridge.
Wall says extensive consultations were conducted with a broad spectrum of British Columbian communities who have already gone through this process and have introduced short term rentals to their communities and into their bylaws. “These conversations identified both best practices and pitfalls to avoid,” writes Wall in his report. “These communities included Nelson, Golden, Revelstoke, Fernie, Valemount, Victoria, Kelowna and Vancouver. Through these processes, Administration found that Nelson’s model was most closely aligned to Tumbler Ridge. Many of the amendments to Tumbler Ridge bylaws have therefore been adapted from Nelson’s experiences.”
Not all of council is in favour of this plan. The debate started with Councillor Howe putting a motion on the floor to not proceed with any short term rentals, which was seconded by Councillor Krakowka.
Krakowka says he has been in contact with two of the hotels in town with kitchenettes in them. “And that to me was the understanding for why this was happening,” he says. But even with these amenities, “one hotel has yet to be at 50 percent occupancy since October. They’re not even full. We have two businesses who are already here and pay taxes, and we’re looking at taking business away from them. I am not against having businesses in Tumbler Ridge, but I am against Air BnB. And if we have mines open up, all of a sudden we may not have houses for people to move into.”
Councillor Miedzinski says that he talked to the hotels, too. “One of them doesn’t even offer weekly or monthly rates, one only monthly, and one both weekly and monthly rates. That’s what short term rentals are: for weekenders and up to 31 days,” he says. “For me, I think it’s a very beneficial thing for us to have. If there are going to be disruptive individuals in these units, they can be dealt with by the business owner, and if there are too many complaints, that business could technically be dissolved.”
He says short term rentals cater to different groups than hotels do. “Short term rentals cater to family groups or larger groups—four or more. If I was coming to a community with my family, I’d rather not be sleeping beside my mother, so I’d have to get another room, which would increase the cost, which is sometimes not viable for a family.”
And it’s not just tourism. He says locals can be displaced for a short time, as they move between houses, or deal with a fire or a flood. “Industry people come to this community also need places to stay. They’re going to be handing out resumes, doing interviews, but they also want to see the community. They want to live here for a short amount of time. Bring their family. In a hotel, it gets quite costly. A house is more viable for a family coming to the town. There are multiple reasons I am in support of short term rentals. The merits of it outweigh the deficiencies.”
Councillor Howe has a number of objections. “Anything that’s going to go on in an Air BnB, we’re not going to be able to enforce,” he says. “There are a tonne of bylaws in Tumbler Ridge that aren’t being enforced, because we have a complaint driven system. It is absolutely going to hurt hotels, because that’s the only other place for people to stay in town. That’s a hard fact. We get much higher taxes from the hotels. They’re a major contributor to our taxes. And we’ve had some of those hotels struggle to pay taxes in recent years. One came in and said ‘you can have this thing if we can’t change the structure of how we can sell our units.’ Those are big issues. Million dollar issues.
“For us to go in and explain to hotels that they have to change their business strategies so they can attract those who would use an Air BnB…that’s their job. If they don’t offer week rates, that’s their problem. They’ll have to figure it out or lose those people. Let’s support the businesses in town. I have a short term rental next to my house, and it is terrible. I cannot stand the place. They come in with their mine trucks, they leave the dirt, sludge, oil all over the road, they don’t know what days garbage is collected, they don’t know any of the bylaws…those type of people should be in hotels. I do not want to see Air BnBs at this time in Tumbler Ridge. Should things change and our hotels are filled up, then we can have the conversation then. Right now, while the community is suffering, I don’t see the benefit.”
However, Howe’s original motion was voted down, as the rest of Council supports the idea of short-term rentals.
(Indeed, Councillor Kirby had to recuse herself before the discussion started, as she is entertaining the idea of starting an Air BnB).
Spearheading the charge were Councillors Miedzinski and Norbury. “If a person owns a business licence, they’re a business,” says Councillor Norbury, responding to Howe’s objections. “A person will need to own a business licence to operate. Competition is healthy in the market. It’s not something that people want to hear: someone is opening a similar business. But it makes them try harder. Work better. Talking with restaurant owners, they say it made them bring a higher level of service to the community that set me apart from everybody else. This is an opportunity for everybody. The current hotels can get on a new platform. And it ups the bar.”
Councillor Miedzinski points out that this will actually help on of the biggest problems that Howe has. “ How is the rental next to Councillor Howe’s place being controlled right now if there’s
no bylaw in place? If I was a business owner, I would have to adhere to the bylaws and rules and zoning. If I don’t, I am no longer a business owner. There are people who want to start an Air BnB who are holding out for the rules. If we have the bylaws in place, they’re going to have to have a list of people who are there in case there’s a state of Emergency. There is going to be a paper trail. If something happens, you have names, vehicle licence plate numbers that would be attached to them. If there is a complaint, you have a paper trail. There’s a benefit to that. Right now, anyone could be running a business illegally. This gives it credibility.”
Howe points out that this is a lot of work for what is currently only four listings. “For four people, we’re adding all the staff time to have the fire chief go out and check this stuff, to have this complaint system, and what benefit are we getting? People have a few more place to stay? If you looked at how much hotels pay in taxes…we’ve already almost lost a hotel in Tumbler Ridge.
Let that sink in. The amount of taxes we get from that one place…how much money is that compared to what we get from Air BnB. That’s a very scary prospect, and I want to support those large businesses in town that have supported this community for years and years.”
Even the hotels are divided on the issue, says Wall. “Administration reached out to the Trend Mountain Hotel, Tumbler Ridge Hotel and Suites and Tumbler Ridge Inn,” he says. “The owners of the Tumbler Ridge Hotel and Suites have stated that they see short term lets as a growing trend that will provide more options for tourists and visitors to Tumbler Ridge. They have no issues and are open to the idea. The owners of the Tumbler Ridge Inn see Air BnBs/ short term rentals as an inevitable growth sector in the tourism industry.
They want to see them regulated in Tumbler Ridge as they believe they will operate anyway, regardless of whether any bylaws and regulations are put in place. However, they have expressed their concerns about the added pressure these short term rentals could put on an already low hotel occupancy rate in Tumbler Ridge.
Finally, says Wall, “The manager of the Trend is also a member of the Tourism Advisory Council. They have expressed their opposition to short term rentals in Tumbler Ridge. They are concerned that the additional competition will take away business from their hotel.”
Administration has created a new, stand alone “Short Term Rental” business licence category. “Administration proposes that the business licence fee for short term rental businesses in Tumbler Ridge be set at $150 per year,” says Wall. This is the same rate as the hotels pay, and comparable to other small communities such as Fernie and Valemount. “This would be a fixed price regardless of the number of bedrooms provided in a property or the style of short-term rental. One business licence would serve one property only and a second licence would be required for an additional property.”
Jon and Bintang Howard are one of the four people who have a listing up currently on Air BnB. Bintang says $150 isn’t onerous, even though they are only getting one or two guests a month at their property. “I don’t mind that. But if I have to show the town my accounting, that becomes a double standard,” she says.
The Howards started their Air BnB because they love the model. :We started using Air BnBs in 2012, as a way to meet local people,” she says. “It’s more personal. We like it.”
Last year, she says, they decided to start their own, for a couple of reasons. “The main reason was for extra money,” she says. “But also, it’s a way to meet new people and to help promote tourism in Tumbler Ridge. We opened it in May, we had our first guests in June.”
She says there’s a lot of controls that Air BnB offers, including how long people can stay for. Because the couple is just renting a spare room, they don’t want strangers in their house for months at a time (the longest booking is one month), so they set their limit at five.
They don’t provide breakfast, but do provide tea and coffee.
Bintang says they have a lot of control over who comes to the place. “We don’t accept just anyone,” she says. “You have to build up your track rating in Air BnB.” She says this helps attract a higher class of clientele.
The pair decided not to list on other sites (like Booking.com or Expedia.com, who have also started doing short term rentals), because those sites don’t allow you to see the potential customers, as well as create house specific rules.
Jon says he first heard about the District’s proposed rules when it came out in the paper last fall. “I checked the regulation before we opened, but there was nothing,” he says. “When you open Air BnB they said you have to check with local bylaw, and there was none.”
When they saw the District was planning on putting bylaws in place, they pulled their listing down for a couple of months, but put it back up as there were no rules in place saying they couldn’t. “It’s a good way of promoting the town,” he says. “I hope they don’t come up with punitive rules. Someone wanting to make a little bit of extra money, there shouldn’t be huge rules around that. Everyone should be able to make a little bit of money here and there. And the more this attracts people to the town the better.”
He says there is a certain class of traveler who will only stay in Air BnBs these days. “People who want options are happier. If they want to stay at a hotel, they stay at a hotel. If they want a BnB experience, they stay at a BnB. And if they want an Air BnB, they stay at an Air BnB. Sometimes you want to go and meet local people. Sometimes people are coming to town and wondering what the houses are like. You don’t necessarily see that from a hotel. I think it should be open to anyone. Competition is good regardless of the industry. Hotels provide a different service than Air BnBs.”
The couple says their busiest months over summer saw them attract two groups. “How much does that affect the hotels? The visitors still have to go out and eat. The more people who come to town the better. Hotels can advertise in Air BnB too.”
He says there is room for both big businesses and small, even in a town like Tumbler Ridge. “It’s like a young kid that goes out and mows lawn. That takes work away from the landscaper. You have it in every industry. I would hope the town isn’t heavy handed when it comes to laying down the rules and standards for Air BnBs.”
Council gave first, second and third readings to the proposed bylaw and changes to existing bylaws. However, there was concern around parking, and being able to provide enough parking for guests. “Are we going to ensure that each room available for rental is going to have a paid parking lot?” asks Councillor Howe. “My concern is will all these types of rentals going to have enough parking for every room the rent out? Can we do that? You can’t cover your lawn with concrete or asphalt. I see rentals in town where people park on the grass, rut it all up, destroy district property. Are we going to make sure these people are going to put asphalt in? This has come to the surface in Tumbler Ridge before. People were putting in gravel driveways, but by our bylaw, you’re not allowed to have a gravel driveway. It has to be pavement or asphalt. So here’s this can of worms. If an Air BnB has to have their driveway paved, so does the guy down the street who has a gravel driveway.”
“If we have a four vehicle family in town, we don’t demand that they have a parking space per car,” says Councillor Norbury. “And it’s not just people who rent who are parking on their lawns.”
Councillor Krakowka disagrees. He says when he moved to town his family had four cars, and he was required to provide parking to get all the vehicles off the street. “I had to build two more stalls to get those vehicles off the street.”
The issue was enough to be sent back to staff for clarification, and back before council on February 10 to limit the number of guests that could stay at a short term rental by the number of off-road parking spaces on the property.
The final reading is expected to take place in the next few months.
