How critical is the housing crisis on Bowen Island, and what are the factors contributing to it? Well, as council plugs away on initiatives such as Snug Cove House and the Grafton Lake development, attends webinars and follows procedure, islanders Michael Chapman and Susan Detwiler have set to work researching the situation on their own, and are determined to find solutions.
Detwiler moved to Bowen three years ago after selling a small house in Guelph, Ontario.
“I had some money from that and wanted to be near my adult-children, who live in Whistler,” says Detweiller, who is a retired professor of Fine Art from the University of Guelph. “When prices started rising this summer, rumours started flying. I wanted to find out what the actual numbers are. Also, I really like this community and would like to stay. I would love to buy a place, but there’s no way I could afford to at current market prices.”
She put the call out for people to report their situations to her through the Bowen Island Affordable Housing Facebook page.
“I wanted to know everything: how much people are paying, what kind of places they’re living in, how many people are in the house, whether they are single people, couples, families, seniors,” says Detweiller. “Right now, I have preliminary numbers. I have someone who is going to help me crunch all these numbers and sort through them so they are more meaningful at the end of the week, but for now I can tell you that this crisis is affecting people of all ages, who are single, in couples and families. I’ve had 51 responses representing 102 people, give or take a dozen.”
Detwiler says the results of generating this list have been disturbing.
“I’ve heard about people living month to month who don’t even have the money to move but are being forced to anyway, about two income families that can barely make-it, and people buying houses and renting them out at a higher rate – something that is illegal, but happens anyway. This is about so much more than having to move from your current house. It’s about being dislocated from friends, family, jobs, doctors and people’s entire history.”
Michael Chapman, a former candidate for Bowen council says he is a “political animal,” and is driven to be involved in this situation because it is critical to the community.
“I don’t have kids so I have the time and energy for this,” says Chapman. “Also, this is affecting so many people who don’t feel secure enough to speak out. I do.”
Chapman says he started looking into the bed and breakfasts on island in part due to annoyance over a house in his neighbourhood that is rented most weekends and seems to be used as a party house.
“The owner is renting it out for $400 a weekend, and it would make a very nice, small family home,” says Chapman.
By reviewing the Airbnb site for Bowen Island as well as Vacation Rental By Owner (VRBO) Chapman says he has found more than 50 complete homes listed and 20 attached suites with kitchens or cooking facilities. that are currently being rented out as bed and breakfasts or vacation rental properties.
“This represents 256 beds,” says Chapman. “We have very strict rules about bed and breakfast here on Bowen, and this breaks them. Now if we could just enforce our bylaws we wouldn’t have to worry so much about the fact that we don’t have money to build affordable housing.”
Chapman points specifically to the Land Use Bylaw (LUB) which says kitchen and cooking facilities “are not permitted” in bed and breakfasts; and it limits vacation rentals (which can have these facilities) in the “Village Commercial Zones.”
Chapman is further outraged that the municipality is promoting some of these bylaw-contravening operations through the Tourism Bowen Island website.
The municipality’s Senior Bylaw Services Officer, Bonny Brokenshire, says that the enforcement of this bylaw would be a lengthy and expensive procedure for the municipality to undertake.
“The Land Use Bylaw does not give us the ability to fine people,” says Brokenshire. “To be enforced, we would have to issue a warning with the operator of the illegal service, and if they still didn’t comply, it would be a legal issue dealt with by a court injunction.”
Brokenshire compares this bylaw to Bylaw 418, which says people can not live on their boats, but until recently had no enforcement mechanisms.
“A strategy would need to be developed to create an enforcement tool for this bylaw,” says Brokenshire. “And that direction would need to come from council.”
