With winter 2023-24 tapering off, Whistler Blackcomb’s Chief Operating Officer, Belinda Trembath, said what has proven a challenging season still isn’t done yet.
“While we didn’t get the snow we wanted to start the season, this was a truly—and continues to be—a remarkable season with an April powder day today,” she said at Whistler’s April 9 regular council meeting.
The Village of Pemberton (VOP) will opt-in to new provincial legislation governing short-term rentals after council gave its assent last month.
At the regular council meeting on March 19, Pemberton council recommended staff submit a request to the Province of British Columbia to have the VOP included in the principal residence requirement for short-term rental accommodation. Council also directed staff to draft amendments to Zoning Bylaw No. 832, 2018 and Business Licence Bylaw No. 855, 2019, to bring the VOP’s lone existing bed and breakfast business into compliance with Village bylaws, and to draft an amendment to Zoning Bylaw No. 832, 2018, to align the Village’s definition of short-term vacation rental with the definition set out in the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act.
This week, Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia, cracked open the Peak Express Chair at the end of a storm cycle that’s dumped 62 inches of snow over the past seven days.
As you might expect, those who got in line early had a run down Peak’s piste that they won’t forget anytime soon.
MP Patrick Weiler and Pemberton Mayor Mike Richman stressed the dire need for more homes not just in Pemberton, but across Canada at an announcement for federal funding in Pemberton last week.
Weiler was at Pemberton’s Downtown Community Barn on March 6 to announce more than $2.7 million for local housing initiatives from the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund.
The province’s $89.4-billion budget offers a lot of opportunities to local governments like Whistler, but Mayor Jack Crompton said local officials will watch for more announcements in the lead-up to the election later this year.
As always, housing is top of mind: Crompton said he is enthusiastic about investments in housing projects through the recently-announced BC Builds program, which also benefits from $2 billion in federal funding and is intended to provide housing for middle-income Canadians.
Whistler’s real-estate sector is expected to stay steady over the next year, with interest rates still high and buyers and sellers not quite meeting in the middle after the slow year that was 2023.
Pemberton’s mayor and council considered the implications of future population growth at a Committee of the Whole meeting on Nov. 28—and what the town might look like when its population hits 5,000.
At the meeting, officials held a workshop on affordable housing to work through problems residents are currently facing, and to predict other issues coming down the line. The open discussion was casual, and served as a starting point for future talks based on some of B.C.’s new housing laws.
Six locals elevated themselves above the pack at the recent IFSA Regional freeride competition on Dec. 30 in Whistler.
Whistler’s property values are taking a breather for 2024, after years of double-digit growth.
The value of a single-family residential home in Whistler as of July 1 was $2,842,000, according to BC Assessment numbers released Jan. 2—a two-per-cent decrease compared to the same period a year prior.
The decrease comes after two years of double-digit growth: Last year, single-family property values rose by 11 per cent, while the year before, values rose by 29 per cent.
The last year saw rising fortunes for Whistler’s business community, with increases in business sentiment and improvements in staffing—but challenges lie ahead.
Executive director of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, Louise Walker, said with borders being open, the revival of events, and a return of foreign workers, 2023 “saw some improvements on key challenges of 2022.”
The workforce is a perennial issue, with many businesses forced to cut back on hours due to a lack of staff.