By David F. Rooney
City Council acknowledged one neighbourhood’s deep dissatisfaction, when they turned down a vacation rental application by the owners of 1065 McCarty Crescent.
However before they did that, they voted to defer for an application by Deanne and Ryan Precourt for a one-bedroom suite at 273 Pearks Drive. (You can watch that decision at the start of video below.)
Councillor Linda Nixon said Council is “getting to where we’re comfortable (with vacation rentals) where someone lives on site.”
“Having someone on site has proven to be beneficial for everyone,” Mayor Mark McKee said.
However, they decided to defer a final decision because it is for a one-bedroom suite and almost all of the applications heard so far are full-house vacation rentals. Council said they would revisit this particular application at a later date.
The owners of 1065 McCarty Crescent, Jacqueline Rhind and Ben Harding were not so lucky.
Their application was dogged by a number of letters from neigbours who opposed it, as well as verbal opposition at the public hearing. Most of the negative comments concerned residents fears for their children’s safety in what has been a child-friendly neigbourhood. Noise and parking were other issues. raised. You can watch the public hearing starting at the 19:29 point on the video below.
Ultimately, Council turned down the application.
The final application for a one-bedroom suite at 115 Montana Place was deferred until a later date, at which point Council will begin hearing applications for single-bedroom suites.
Vacation rental public hearings continue on Tuesday, February 28, beginning at 3 pm when Council considers two of them — 306 Downie Street and 1103 Cottonwood Street.
