By Marina Wang
The City of North Vancouver is asking the Supreme Court to step in on the case of woman running her townhouse unit like a hostel on Airbnb.
Emily Yu rents out 14 to 15 beds to short-term visitors in her unit, dubbed the Oasis Hostel. Her neighbors have expressed concerns regarding bed bugs, fire safety, insurance, and the constant barrage of strangers coming through their property. Yu’s strata and B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal is charging nearly $7,000 in strata bylaw fines against her.
According to the petition issued to the Supreme Court, “The use of the townhouse as a hostel disturbs the neighbours. The noise, traffic and transience of the hostel guests is inconsistent with the residential nature of the neighbourhood containing the townhouse.”
The petition also alleges that Yu is violating fire safety bylaws by obstructing halls and exits with furniture and contravening zoning bylaws by keeping her home as a hostel. It also called for Yu to immediately cease receiving guests and to remove her online advertisements.
Despite the charges accrued from the Civil Resolution Tribunal, Yu remains defiant. “I’m going to continue to fight for my right,” she told the CBC. “This is my home. I have a right to enjoy my property. My strata they can say whatever they want, but they don’t have a right to [take away] my civil right of enjoying my property.”
After the petition to the Supreme Court was filed by the strata and City of North Vancouver, Yu filed her own petition to the Supreme Court arguing that her privacy had been violated by members of her strata. Her petition was dismissed.
