Short term rentals, such as Airbnb properties, can provide some additional income to homeowners during the busy tourist months, but can also put additional strain on an already struggling housing market, and the Town of Drumheller is looking for ways to regulate these properties through amendments to its Business License Bylaw.
The proposed changes were brought forward for council to give first reading consideration during the regular Monday, July 10 council meeting by Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Darryl Drohomerski.
“A few months ago we thought we’d come up with a pretty good resolution as far as dealing with it through development permits, but when we then went through some of the legal tests of it, though, it became very cumbersome and very awkward for us to deal with and was open to all sorts of challenges,” CAO Drohomerski explained.
By regulating short term rentals, the Town would be able to have a database of locations and property owners to help facilitate safe and effective management of these properties, and also ensure “good neighbourly” management.
This will also provide emergency services, including bylaw, RCMP, and fire, to have a better idea of where these properties are located for the safety of both renters, property owners, and neighbours.
There are currently about 100 of these short term rental properties within the community.
Administration looked at how other municipalities manage short term rentals, including Canmore and Calgary. It was found Canmore regulates the number of short term rentals permitted per area, while Calgary has “a very complicated system.”
However, CAO Drohomerski acknowledged Drumheller is different from the communities investigated as part of this process, and a system which would work for the Drumheller community would need to be found.
By amending the Business License Bylaw, the Town would be able to regulate short term rentals and also include provisions for mobile vendors; currently, licenses for mobile vendors must be approved through the Town’s Municipal Planning Commission (MPC), and this would simplify the process for these businesses.
“We want to be able to transition this bylaw. We don’t want to come down with enforcement right away; we want people to start getting into compliance mode… we will not do any enforcement of licensing until January 2024,” CAO Drohomerski shared.
Council gave first reading of the Business License Bylaw and set a public hearing date for Tuesday, September 5. Residents were encouraged to bring forward any concerns or comments they may have at this meeting, or to reach out to members of council prior to; there will also be public engagements held during the summer, though dates are pending.
