One Victoria City councilor tells us he's hearing from people who are opposed to short term vacation rentals, such as Air BnB, because they want to live in a home not a hotel.
Geoff Young says he sympathizes with people living in condo buildings who have seen an increase in units turned over to short term vacation rentals.
"They make noise, they don't know where they're supposed to be parking, they don't know where to put their garbage and recycling," those are some of the issues Young has heard. Then there's the issue of community. Young says he's heard people say "I don't have a neighbour. Now it's a hotel room next to me and I expected I would have a little community."
But, Young says it's a complicated issue and he doesn't want to see council overreact, "it's a tough one and I don't think we want to stop people from home exchanges or the occasional short term rental of a home. But it's when they it turns into a business is when we would start asking questions. That's what we want."
A committee of council has asked city staff to investigate more options. Those options could include requiring owners to take out a business license, or bringing in zoning changes that limit the number of short term vacation rentals in an area.
A staff report warns that it could be a costly and time consuming prospect to inspect and enforce any regulations.