Welcome to the conversation about Short-Term Accommodations in the City of Maple Ridge.

“Short-Term Accommodations” (STAs) is an umbrella term used to describe temporary overnight accommodations for paying guests, who are staying fewer than 31 consecutive days.

Currently, when tourists, friends, or family are looking to spend time in Maple Ridge, they have the option to stay in a Short-Term Accommodation, such as a Hotel, Inn, or Bed & Breakfast. Well-run short-term accommodations can help support tourism growth and economic development initiatives in the community. However, online platforms, like Airbnb and VRBO, have led to a rise of Short-Term Accommodations in private homes in Maple Ridge.

Not all accommodations being offered online adhere to the City’s existing regulations. For example, there are Maple Ridge apartments and suites available on online booking sites even though Short-Term Accommodations are not currently permitted in these locations. As the City gears up to host the 2024 BC Summer Games and hosts other events and celebrations, it is timely to check in with the community on potential updates to the current Bed & Breakfast regulations.

The City has developed draft requirements proposing modernization of the City’s Bed & Breakfast regulations. The draft regulatory update would allow Short-Term Accommodations in more forms (such as apartments and townhouses), while ensuring safe conditions for guests and improved ability to ensure the use is not disruptive for the surrounding residents.

To see a quick snapshot of the draft regulations, a one-page handout is available here. For more in-depth information about the draft regulations, please review the video (below) which provides an audio presentation.

Thank you to everyone who completed the survey! The survey was open from February 6th to March 6th.

Support for Greater Housing Diversity, Affordability & Rental Options

The City has been actively working on housing initiatives intended to support more housing forms that are within financial reach and add to the rental housing supply. Two initiatives currently underway are a review of the RS-1 single-detached residential zone for infill housing and a review of the secondary suites and detached garden suites regulations aimed at increasing housing affordability and rental supply. For more information on these initiatives, please visit this website.

Stay tuned for updates on housing initiatives by registering for notifications!

Project Background

How were these draft regulations developed?

By the direction of Council on November 3, 2020, various City departments reviewed the following:

• Provincial legislation (to understand what tools are available to municipalities)
• The City’s current short-term accommodation regulations and processes
• Municipal best practices across British Columbia

Using the above resources, staff collaboratively prepared the draft regulations. These draft regulations and a public engagement plan were presented to Council on September 27, 2022.

To learn more about the draft regulations, a narrated video has been created, which can be viewed above.

How will your feedback be used?

Your feedback is valuable on proposed changes to the current regulations for Short-Term Accommodations. Staff will review the survey outcomes and comments for common themes, concerns, and support and present to Council with recommendations for next steps.

Note that verbatim comments and results will be available as an appendix to the report (names, addresses, and other identifiers are redacted).

Level of Engagement - Consult

The engagement for this project is at the "consult" level of the International Association for Public Participation's (IAP2) Spectrum of Public Participation. This means that we will keep you informed, listen to and acknowledge concerns and aspirations, and provide feedback on how public input influenced the decision.

Learn more about how we use the Spectrum as a foundation for community engagement here!

Translations

There is an automatic translation tool available at the top-right of this page. Languages include: Traditional Chinese [繁體中文] Simplified Chinese [简体中文] Punjabi [ਪੰਜਾਬੀ], Filipino [Tagalog], Vietnamese [Tiếng Việt], French [Français], Korean [한국어], Japanese [日本語] Spanish [Español] and more.

Please Note: Google Translate is a third-party service and we cannot guarantee the quality or accuracy of the translated content. If you require additional support, email engage@mapleridge.ca.

Short-Term Accommodations Survey

The survey closed March 6, 2023. Thank you to everyone who completed the survey!

Short-Term Accommodations (STAs) are temporary overnight lodgings for paying guests who are staying fewer than 31 consecutive days. Online platforms, such as Airbnb and VRBO, have led to a rise of short-term accommodations in Maple Ridge.

The City's current Bed & Breakfast requirements do not permit apartments and suites to be used as STAs; however, there are Maple Ridge properties on popular STA online platforms that fall within these categories.

To ensure STAs do not negatively impact our community and that all STAs are appropriately managed, the City has proactively drafted new requirements for citizens' review. The draft requirements expand where STA’s would be permitted and proposes ways to keep STA owners, STA guests and the surrounding community safe with few complaints.

The City is seeking your feedback in order to understand current neighbourhood challenges with STAs to guide potential changes to the draft requirements.

Prior to completing this survey, we encourage you to review the draft requirements and to watch the project introduction video at https://engage.mapleridge.ca/sta.

Estimated Time to Complete Survey: 10 minutes

Thank you in advance for completing the survey. Your feedback is valuable and will guide potential changes to the draft framework being proposed.

The Survey has now concluded.