Some Naramata residents want short term rental regulations
Residents in Naramata are concerned about controversial new housing developments in the area because their community is not protected by the province’s short term rental legislation.
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen is making changes to its official community plan to accommodate several new housing developments along the Naramata Bench, but many residents feel these new houses will create problems for the community rather than address the need for housing.
The district is holding a series of public hearings this coming week on Jan. 7, 9, and 11, so residents can voice their concerns.
“We live in a small interior community – Naramata, located on the east side of Okanagan lake, just north of Penticton B.C.,” resident Miranda Halladay said in an email sent to iNFOnews.ca. “The amount of new developments, lots, homes in that same time period (2001-2021) is quite staggering...Hundreds of new houses and only 19 new residents."
READ MORE: Residents fear Naramata housing project will change neighbourhood
Naramata resident Nicole Hackworth says many residents in the community feel the community plan and housing development does not align with what they want.
“There are more than a few issues that the people of Naramata have been frustrated with over the last five years. The new official community plan process has been quite frustrating,” she said.
Anita Molaro lives in Naramata and says because the community is not protected by the province’s short term rental legislation, she fears these new houses will become short term rentals that hurt the community.
“The new legislation is here and it aligns with the direction we want the community to go, but we’re excluded because we’re not a community of 10,000,” Molaro said. “We are severely impacted by it and it’s going to get worse if the communities all around us have the short term rental legislation like Penticton. The speculators will go where the opportunity exists so there will be even more pressure on Naramata.”
Molaro is concerned short term rental investors will use sites like AirDNA, which shows a property’s earning potential as a short term rental, to see that Naramata is an ideal place to buy up property.
READ MORE: Proposal revised for controversial Naramata Bench subdivision
“What’s being built right now is not being built to serve families, it's being built to serve the tourism industry. It’s great for the industry but it doesn’t support what the people of Naramata value, which is their sense of community,” Molaro said.
The district could opt-in to the short term rental regulations, but at the moment there is no indication the district will do so.
The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen did not return phone calls on this subject.
Click here for more information about the public hearings.
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