Canada Day parade, zoning for multi-unit housing, and higher fines for illegal renters
Looking to get caught up on the Tuesday, May 14 Council Meetings? We’ve pulled together some key stories from Committee of the Whole and the Regular Council Meeting, including:
- Village festival or parade? Canada Day discussions continue.
- Bylaw creates the zoning for the Provincial Government’s housings plans.
- Maximum fines for illegal short-term rentals proposed to triple, per Provincial legislation.
For all the details, check out the recording of the full meeting on whistler.ca.
Canada Day Parade returns to festival
Non-motorized parade aligns with climate change goals
Whistler’s once-annual Canada Day Parade will return in 2024 with one notable difference: for the first time ever, with the unanimous approval by Council, the parade will skip the large vehicles. Only electric motors will be permitted as part of floats—so electric bikes, golf carts and, of course, good old people power.
The last Whistler Canada Day parade was held in 2019 before being placed on hiatus, due to COVID restrictions. When public gatherings returned in 2022, the event found a new focus as a Village-based festival.
In place of a parade, the municipality took a “People’s Parade” approach that encouraged tens of thousands of community members and visitors to move around the village, which in turn encouraged business recovery.
While the festival atmosphere was well-received, Council did hear feedback that the community wanted the popular parade to return.
On Tuesday, Council was given two options by the Festivals Events & Animation team. One would build on the Village festival concept utilized in 2023 to include more points of interest and animation throughout the village. The other would bring back the original parade as a non-motorized event, with the understanding that the municipality would need to scale back planned Village events and animation to accommodate it.
In the end, the parade concept was chosen. The parade will be augmented by Village animations and a Whistler Concert Series presentation of local DJ Foxy Moron and viral indie-pop band Walk off the Earth.
It was noted that reconciliation was considered in Canada Day planning. The Squamish-Lil’wat Cultural Centre will open to visitors on Canada Day and have also indicated that they are interested in participating in Canada Day festivities.
A callout to community organizations will be issued on Friday, May 24. Please check Whistler.ca to learn how to participate and find the schedule.
WATCH: Canada Day Concept 2024
Many owners and developers will soon have the option to add additional small-scale housing to their lots. Photo: RMOW: Justa Jeskova
Small housing initiative moves ahead
Province-wide zoning amendment would allow small multi-unit housing on single family lots
Council members had a lot of questions when it came to advancing a new bylaw that would allow the creation of small multi-unit housing complexes within, or in place of, single-family homes.
The provincial government has required the adoption of these small-scale multi-unit housing (SSMUH) bylaws across B.C. to accommodate future housing needs for the “missing middle,” without changing the nature of neighbourhoods and communities.
It was noted that the Whistler bylaw would apply to roughly 3,740 parcels in 40 zones and allow for owners and developers to add suites, divide existing homes into units, add attached or detached units by increasing allowable gross floor area, and replace homes with new multi-unit buildings with up to four units. The number of allowable units would largely be determined by lot size.
The Whistler guidelines would also specify that a prescribed number of units created in each development would be set aside as employee housing.
More information on how SSMUH could be implemented in Whistler is available online: How the new provincial housing legislation affects Whistler.
Council asked staff dozens of questions about the economics of the proposal for homeowners and builders, how they could be encouraged to add units, etc. Members of Council who commented noted that it was a huge amount of work for the planning department to meet provincial deadlines at a time when they’re already busy with permit applications.
After a lengthy discussion, Mayor Crompton recommended that Council give the proposed bylaw its first three readings to move it forward but added an additional resolution requiring municipal staff to expedite testing the bylaw with owners and the development community.
“We are not interested in constructing a whole bunch of new second homes, so our addition of housing agreements and rental tenure zoning is critical to ensuring we deliver more homes for workers,” said Crompton. “I am really enthusiastic to see that brought to the table.”
As well as increasing gross floor area on lots, and creating additional revenue opportunities, owners and builders would be incentivized through an expedited application and permit process.
WATCH: Zoning Amendment Bylaw (Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing)
Illegal tourism accommodation fines to increase
Fines increase up to $3,000 for unlicensed rentals, among other changes
The province’s crackdown on illegal tourism accommodation has provided municipalities with new rules and tools to ensure homes on short-term rental websites are properly zoned and licensed, while also helping local governments to better enforce zoning through higher fines.
The proposed Municipal Ticket Information System Implementation Amendment Bylaw (called MTI for short) would allow the Resort Municipality of Whistler to increase the maximum fine for illegal nightly rentals from $1,000 per night to $3,000. The municipality also has an easier bylaw notice option of $500 per infraction that is already being used with 91 tickets issued since 2023.
“We’ve been more actively pursuing this as time goes on and are also becoming more efficient,” said Lindsay DeBou in response to a question from Councillor Arthur DeJong about the number of fines issued since 2023 and whether it’s become a greater focus for the bylaw department. DeBou also noted that they have a designated staff member to enforce residential zoning.
As well as higher potential fines, the new provincial rules would require rental websites to include proof of the owner’s business license, which are required for short-term rentals, as well as to remove non-compliant properties upon request. The act will also improve the way data is collected and shared through the creation of a province-wide rental registry.
In previous discussions it has been noted that these rentals can create noise, traffic and other issues in residential neighbourhoods, while also hurting bookings for owners of properties that are zoned for Tourism Accommodation. It also reduces the pool of long-term rental accommodation the resort needs to house its workforce.
“Our community has done a good job on this in the last few years, and these tools will allow us to do an even better job,” said Mayor Jack Crompton before calling the new bylaw amendment to a vote. The MTI bylaw passed the first three readings and will return to council in the future for final adoption.
WATCH: Municipal Ticket Information System Amendment Bylaw
To attend an upcoming meeting, check out the Council Meeting Schedule. Agendas and Minutes are available online. To connect with Council, consider Presenting to Council, or get in touch with them individually by phone or email.
