The City of Fernie would already be regulating short-terms rentals if it were enforcing its zoning bylaws, which mandate that bed and breakfast type businesses that rent out three bedrooms or less must be licensed and registered with the City.
But during a Feb. 21 information session on Airbnb and other short-term property rentals at the Fernie Senior’s Citizens Drop in Centre, City of Fernie CAO Norm McInnis said the city would not be prosecuting short-term renters for disobeying the law.
“We’ve got a legal opinion that our zoning bylaw right now is not enforceable on the short-term rental issue,” he said.
However, regulation of short-term rentals in the City of Fernie could begin in late 2017 following amendments to city’s zoning and business license bylaws, he said.
To begin the process, McInnis said the city would be forming a small focus group to develop a questionnaire to gather more data from residents.
Using the results, proposed changes to the bylaws would then be presented at another information session, after which council would vote to accept them or not. The city would then start an education and enforcement campaign, he said.
“We’ve started the discussion,” said McInnis. “[And] as much as we may think this is a simple question, it’s very complex and we may not get it right getting out of the gate but we’ll continue to work on it.”
The changes are not coming soon enough for longtime Fernie resident Christa Moffat who said short-term property rentals might be replacing long-term rental spaces, pushing up the price for long-term renters.
“I came to this meeting tonight as a concerned citizen,” said Moffat whose sons were born and raised in Fernie, are in their mid-20’s and work in retail at a local ski shop.
“We have come to terms with the fact that it may be a long time before they can afford to buy a house, but it is going to be a sad day when they can’t afford to even rent one.”
