Trevor understands that he has it good in life.
He has a family that is grown up and doing well. He lives in an affluent Burnaby neighbourhood near Deer Lake. His house is big and beautiful.
So he gets that his complaints might not garner much sympathy. But he’s fed up with having an illegal hotel operating next door with impunity and causing numerous headaches.
And so he’s airing his grievances here.
Since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on travel have loosened, his neighbour in the “mansion next door” has fired up an illegal Airbnb hotel with nine rooms being rented out.
“It’s a nightmare,” he told the NOW. “All summer there are cars everywhere and people coming at all hours of the day and night. They also party in the backyard at night until really late. The noise is terrible. And the owner doesn’t care at all about the impact on their neighbours.”
Trevor said he’s questioned some of the tourists about how many people are in the house.
“I was told all nine bedrooms have been rented out,” Trevor said. “This person apologized, but said they couldn’t do anything about it. Why can’t anyone stop this?”
This isn’t the first time this has happened. I found a 2018 NOW story that published just before I started at the paper that detailed a Burnaby home south of Deer Lake Park, close to Metrotown, that had been operating as a de-facto hotel.
The seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom home was sold for $2.65 million September 2017 before being renovated and converted into a nine-bedroom house hotel, according to B.C. Assessment data. Rooms at the time were listed separately on Airbnb, ranging from $39 to $65 a night.
"I would have bought a place next to hotel if I wanted to live next to one," one neighbour told the NOW. "This is ridiculous."
The neighbour said the constant flow of visitors meant she’s afraid to let her nine-year-old daughter cross the street without her watching.
"I'm scared, for my kids," she said. "Yes, you have to be cautious about anyone in your neighbourhood, but there's something to be said about anyone just coming and going, different people all the time.
"It's not that neighbourhood feel where you know who lives (nearby)."
In 2018, the city told the NOW that boarding houses are only permitted in certain zones, and operators would have to apply to a planning department for rezoning of the property.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44
