STAFF ACCOMMODATIONS UNDERWAY IN SUN PEAKS

Sun Peaks Resort (SPR) LLP’s new staff accommodation brings 58 micro suites to the community.

The micro suites, which are intended for SPR staff, will be 250-300 square feet, including a full bathroom, kitchen and a living area-bedroom combo. Utility connections for water, sewage and gas are underway and work is ongoing for digging the basement, according to Darcy Alexander, chief executive officer for the corporation.

The staff accommodation will be below market rent which Alexander said will open up other rentals in Sun Peaks for community members who don’t work for SPR.

“Our staff will probably move out of those and move into this, and it's going to free up some more accommodation,” Alexander said. “So any accommodation dedicated to employees or our staff helps the situation for everybody else in the resort.”

SPR applied to Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality (SPMRM) and held a public hearing for the application in May to rezone 1265 Alpine Rd. for the four-storey apartment building.

The municipality approved variances to the zoning bylaws so the building’s height could increase from the allowable three storeys to four, reduced the number of parking stalls from 58 to 16 and reduced the setback of the front yard at the location from 7.5 metres to 6.

The new units are expected to be open for SPR staff by November 2024. The development would increase staff accommodation to over 400 beds, as the resort currently has around 350 staff accommodation units.

While Alexander initially expected single-family homes to have more long-term rental options in Sun Peaks, he said the rise of AirBnBs in the village has altered that vision.

“When we did this 32 years ago, AirBnB wasn't a thing,” he explained. “We don't have all those suites that we thought we probably would in the rental pools for staff. So, we're moving to different options.”

‘The AirBnB issue is insane’

Long-time SPR employee Elliott Capper agrees that short-term rentals squeeze people like him out of housing in Sun Peaks.

Capper has worked at SPR for 11 years and is currently commuting from Kamloops each day for work as he struggles to find long-term housing.

Most landlords seem to prefer renting their homes short-term for AirBnB’s over providing long-term housing for staff, he said.

“The AirBnB issue now is insane. You see so many places that go out for rent in the summer, and it's a good price.”

However, these rentals often aren’t available past shoulder season, Capper said. He thinks it’s because property owners can get more revenue on short-term winter rentals.

“They want to AirBnB it because you can get 500 bucks a night,” he explained.

By Liz McDonald

reserving 40 per cent of any new non-market housing for employees of developers who create non-market housing.

Other ideas presented in the report included establishing rental housing policies, potential property tax exemptions and waiving development cost charges (DCC) for non-market ownership housing by 50 per cent. DCCs are fees SPMRM collects on new developments that help pay for infrastructure, including sewers, water connections or roads.

A 2021 study by Makola Developments, reported on by SPIN, showed employers face difficulty finding housing for employees, and the municipality's efforts to solve the issue through the Sun Peaks Housing Authority have been slow-moving.

The study noted Sun Peaks’ large seasonal population, which grows each winter with 700 seasonal staff who work at SPR, alongside about 1000 additional seasonal employees, makes affordable housing problematic for all community members when land is scarce and expensive.

Another notable issue for long-term housing, according to Makola Developments’ study, is longterm options aren’t on par with the number of shortterm rentals. In 2020, short-term rentals could fetch $500 per night. The number of rentals has climbed from 109 in 2016 to close to 800 by 2019.

Sun Peaks’ population has doubled since 2016, according to the 2021 census, becoming B.C.’s fastest growing municipality. The population surged 127.9 per cent in five years, with 616 official residents in 2016, soaring to 1,404 by 2021.

Costs for single-family homes are rising faster than any other place in the province, according to BC Assessment data. The provincial Crown corporation found home values increased by 44 per cent between July 1, 2021 and July 1, 2022. The average property is valued near $1.6 million.

While Capper can drive to Sun Peaks during the summer, winter driving presents less than ideal conditions.

“When you go home in the winter, finishing at 5:30 it’s dark out and the roads are slicker than anything,” he said. “It takes its toll after a while.”

Housing shortages ongoing

Two studies on housing in Sun Peaks show there’s a high need for affordable housing.

The municipality hired Whistler Centre for Sustainability Engagement + Planning to create a non-market housing strategy, which released a report in the summer of 2022. The report showed while there are 1,506 private dwellings in Sun Peaks, only 622 house permanent residents.

Some recommendations Sun Peaks Housing Authority chose to prioritize include supporting housing projects – like the new staff accommodation built by SPR – and potentially

While the housing crisis in Sun Peaks won’t be solved immediately, Alexander said future developments by SPR are planned but not approved for parcel 74 across the road from the current construction site.

The potential future building would be open for renting to all community members and could include a purchasing option.

“That would be out of the Housing Authority – all those deals haven’t been made yet – but that’s the concept,” Alexander told SPIN.

Capper wants to have more done by the Housing Authority.

“You keep hearing talk of affordable housing programs that are coming in, but that never seems to be any action on it,” Capper said.

When he has sometimes found options suited to his needs, he’s been asked to pay increased utilities during the winter or sign a seasonal lease. He also finds many landlords aren’t open to his pet cat, either.

Living in staff accommodation is no longer enjoyable to the veteran employee of SPR, and if he can’t find housing locally, he said he will continue commuting each day.

“I don't want to have to be moving three or four times in the space of two years because it's only a seasonal rental. I just want to set my roots and stay.”