Surrey city council will vote tonight on recommendations from the Planning & Development Department to amend bylaws related to short-term rentals, bed and breakfast businesses, boarding and lodging and then set a public hearing for June 10.
According to a corporate report coming before council, if approved definitions will be assigned for “short-term rental” and “principal residence” and the current definition of “bed and breakfast” will be changed to distinguish it from “short-term rental.”
Short-term rentals would be permitted in single-family dwellings, to a maximum of one secondary suite or coach house on any lot, in multiple unit residential dwellings, and a maximum of one lock-off suite on any lot provided the property is also the owner’s principal residence.
They would be allowed in residential zones, mixed-use zones, agricultural zones, and comprehensive development zones that permit a dwelling unit except caretaker units.
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Moreover, clarification on short-term rentals would be added to Surrey’s Business License Bylaw specifying that owners on demand by city hall would have to provide evidence that the short-term rental is the owner’s principal residence, that only one booking is allowed at a time, that patron records are kept for two years and that the rental is registered with the provincial government.
Also, an annual license fee of $350 will be charged with the duration of short-term rentals being less than 90 days and no limit on the number of bookings per customer each year.
A bed and breakfast must not have more than six guests and not more than three guest bedrooms and where boarding and lodging is concerned only two people may be accommodated.