KNYSNA NEWS - Up until last month, Knysna homeowners have been able to let their homes to temporary visitors as they deemed fit at any time of the year, but this seems to no longer be the case after the municipality announced its interpretation of zoning regulations recently.
The Google definitions of short-term letting are much like the tenants that make use of such of accommodation – ever changing, transitory.
This murkiness dissipated for better or for worse, however, as Knysna Municipality has defined fixed periods for different letting time frames and included a new category in its rental framework for "holiday rentals".
Homeowners renting more than two rooms to temporary guests for less than a month, for instance, will have to apply for permission to do so. And there’s a list of criteria.
According to a municipal press release, the municipality defines long-term rentals as periods of 12 months or longer; short-term rentals as “periods that typically exceed one month, and up to several months”; while holiday rental is classified as “making a property available for holiday rental and accommodation typically on a daily basis or for periods over several days, but which usually does not exceed a period of one month”.
The announcement was issued after months of bashing out the local rental guidelines by the municipality, members of the Thesen Islands Homeowners’ Association (TIHOA) and other residents in the wake of the municipality’s new Zoning Scheme by-laws of 29 June.
The municipality’s new rental conditions were not unanimously applauded.
“I’ve been renting my house out to people passing through for holidays for years without hassle. But, if we try and restrict rentals like this, tourists who prefer to stay in houses and not hotels, will be turned away from Knysna,” said Thesen homeowner Ian Austin, who along with fellow homeowner Craig Smith, is spearheading the fight for the ability to rent out their homes as they see fit.
“The rental terms the municipality refers to in its release are nowhere to be seen in the by-laws,” Smith said.
Ramifications
Smith’s claim was in part corroborated by independent town planner Marike Vreken, who warned of the ramifications of such restrictions. “They [municipality] are opening a serious can of worms for themselves. They are over a year behind on some applications, how are they going to regulate this?” she questioned.
Vreken also feels the regulation of this letting could see the “closing down of a source of income for many regular ratepayers”.
Smith and other homeowners view the restriction of renting more than two rooms for less than a month to a single family, among other measures, as unnecessary regulatory impositions and a blow to free enterprise. Especially, according to Smith, since other municipalities in the Western Cape which he contacted showed no indication of similar rulings, as far as he could ascertain.
“We engaged with George, Overstrand, Stellenbosch, and Mossel Bay municipalities, and none of them ever said they restrict this type of rental,” he said.
"This is patently incorrect," was the response from another Thesen Islands resident, Sam Lurie, who said most property owners do not understand the town-planning definitions and meaning of the zoning associated with their erven.
The control of ad hoc renting on “business disrupters” such as Airbnb, according to Lurie, is being addressed around the world with municipal policies, and the same is happening in South Africa.
"Since 2015, in all the municipalities mentioned by Smith, the following criteria apply to Single Residential 1 of the municipal zoning scheme: accommodation opportunities are possible provided the associated development parameters are met or temporary departure is applied for. In these applications, like other town-planning applications, they will then be subjected to stipulations such as adequate parking space and neighbour consent," Lurie said.
Interpretation
Much of the polemic seems to be based on the various interpretations of the 100 pages-long by-laws.
According to Vreken, there are no time/rental restrictions in Knysna as long as residents rent out to a single family. “There is nothing preventing you from renting out your entire house to another single family.
"Also nothing stipulating the period for how long you can rent out your house… If you have a lawful second dwelling, granny flat, then you can rent the house to one family, and the flat to another family,” she explained.
Speculation however remains broad as to what exactly constitutes a family and how large it may be in terms of rentals. Similar questions have surfaced around the term “holiday rental”, especially as the actual time span of the primary holiday in December by far exceeds the period demarcated for permitted rentals in this category.
According to founder of the Knysna Independent Movement and former member of the Knysna Municipal Planning Tribunal, Susan Campbell, everyone concerned is going to have to take a much closer look at and amend the by-laws because there’s still too much confusion.
"This single-family stipulation, for instance, seems ridiculous. It discriminates against a bunch of friends who want to visit together," she said.
The municipality’s response to questions about the apparent confusion regarding its interpretation of the by-laws, was to suggest consulting the by-laws and the municipal tariff structures on its website.
“Tariffs and by-laws are official documents that are approved and adopted, with Council resolution numbers by the Municipal Council, which is the highest decision-making body of the municipality as a local government structure,” the response stated.
It also said that the comparison of Knysna Municipality to four other municipalities in the Western Cape was not relevant as "municipalities are autonomous institutions that are governed by councils as the highest decision-making structures’’.
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