For a lot of folks, staying in Bed and Breakfast inns is a non-starter, even if you don't have children. I'll never forget the Hood River, Oregon B&B at which my wife and I had the misfortune of spending a night. The high footboard on the cute bed prevented me from stretching out, meaning little sleep. Then, to top things off, the shared bathroom was promptly occupied in the morning for 45 minutes by a guy who made a flabbergasting series of sounds - sounds I really, really, really didn't want to hear - while preventing me from showering and making it to breakfast on time. Add to that the too-cute-by-a-factor-of-eight ambience in most B&Bs, and the forced conviviality with total strangers at breakfast, and well, count me out, Buckaroo.

With a family, motel rooms are also a losing proposition: no room to stretch out, and you're forced to eat out all the time, adding cost and aggravation, as any parent with young kids in a restaurant knows. Unless you're a timber heir or Microsoft millionaire, most resorts are too pricey; those that aren't are of dodgy quality.

I'll never forget staying a "family resort"/four-person suite with a kitchen, near the beach in Parksville, Vancouver Island. Unfortunately, it was during herring roe season. If you've never been privvy to the aura of herring roe au naturel, well, an overused pit toilet is a rose garden in comparison. The proprietors hadn't said anything about the industrial strength fish-stink wafting all about. In addition, I wasn't too pleased to find cigarette butts outside our front door; plus a bare window inside with disabled curtain rod lying on the floor. And that hotel in Campbell River, B.C. up north a ways on Vancouver Island? Let's just put it this way: I guess I should have known that our neighbors would be a hearty bunch of salmon fishermen who, in order to prepare for a 5 a.m. departure the next morning, stayed up partying loudly until 4 a.m.

Such experiences tend to underscore the appeal of the erstwhile vacation rental, a nice enough home, quite possibly in a pretty setting, where your family can stay without dipping into the college tuition fund. Some of our best Northwest and West Coast escapes have included homes rented in the off-season, such as Chesterman House, on the beach in the Vancouver Island town of Tofino; on Orcas and Lopez in Washington's San Juan Islands; on Marrowstone Island in Puget Sound; in Oceanside, Oregon (left); and in the "Mendonoma" region oceanfront burg of Gualala, CA.

Our family has enjoyed several great trips to British Columbia's Gulf Islands, nestled in between the western B.C. mainland and the long expanse of Vancouver Island. Visiting the Gulf Islands, we've stayed in vacation rentals, both on Gabriola Island and Hornby Island. I wrote this travel feature for the Seattle Times, based on that Hornby trip (free reg. req.).

So, considering the importance of the vacation home rental option to Northwest vacationers and to local economies serving toursts, I was fairly flabbergasted to read in today's Vancouver Sun that Saltspring Island, a popular spot in B.C.'s Gulf Islands, is going to ban them. Even worse, local officials seem poised to swallow heinous claims from B&B owners and hotel operators that continuing to allow vacation rentals comprises unfair competition.

Saltspring Island's local government is cracking down on property owners who rent their summer homes and cottages to vacationers, after complaints from commercial hotel and bed-and-breakfast operators that they are facing unfair competition. Wayne Quinn, Islands Trust director of local planning, said Tuesday that renting out a home that is zoned residential is not permitted under the island's zoning bylaw. Such activity is only allowed on properties zoned commercial, he said....Gabriola Island takes the middle position and is working on allowing rentals, provided the homeowner takes out a temporary use permit that could cost $800. Saltspring has decided against that route. "The currently elected trust committee has determined it's not something they want to allow," said Quinn who has been asked by the committee to enforce the ban. He said he's not sure how many illegal holiday homes were being operated on Saltspring but expects it might be a couple of hundred.

He said the unofficial tourist income received by some home-owners helps see them through the year.
"On the mainland, people usually have one job but on the islands some people would say that it [renting out their home] was vital to their being able to live here," said Quinn....he wouldn't be surprised if the issue ends up with the bylaw being challenged in court, he said.

Meanwhile, Elly Hallam, who runs a holiday rental business on Gabriola, warns that any crackdown on holiday home rentals will seriously impact the islands' economies. "Tourism will be reduced and the fragile economies of these islands will be shattered," Hallam said...."These are the people who buy the paintings and sculptures from artists and who spend money in the farmer's market -- it's not the locals who do that," she said. "I find it ironic that they are trying to reduce tourism at a time when the Liberal government is pushing tourism for the 2010 Olympics," said Hallam.

The middle course likely to be steered by Gabriola Island (Malaspina Galleries sandstone formations, above) seems fair enough - require a temporary use permit and related fee. This would allow for some licensing conditions, and clear promulgation of capacity limits. Although the rentals are admittedly in residential areas, the turnover and traffic volume are minimal, especially compared to a hotel, motel or resort. The guests at vacation rentals in the San Juan and Gulf Islands are not exactly the Daytona Beach spring break crowd. With the exception of occasional besotted fishing and hunting enthusiasts, we're a quiet, family-oriented, outdoorsy bunch. A wild night for us might involve some local seafood prepared on site, a good bottle of wine from The Okanagan, and a DVD.

If Saltspring Island persists in effectively banning vacation rentals of homes, the local economy will take a big hit as lucrative tourist visits decline. The island trust committee should ensure property owners do not suffer unreasonable restrictions on their right to earn income from their properties. And the committee should not be in the business of protectionist intervention to stifle economic competition within the local tourist lodging industry. People need choices, and as is perfectly clear to all, B&Bs, hotels and motels simply do not meet the needs of many travellers. In the meantime, good luck to Saltspring on nipping its methamphetamine problem in the bud. Certainly, that poses a greater potential threat to quality of life than vacation rentals which bring income and tax revenue aplenty from visitors.

TECHNORATI TAGS: SALTSPRING ISLAND, VACATION RENTAL BAN, GULF ISLANDS, BRITISH COLUMBIA, VANCOUVER ISLAND, TOFINO, SAN JUAN ISLANDS, WASHINGTON, OREGON, CALIFORNIA, BED AND BREAKFAST, MOTELS, HOTELS