Kimberley’s Short Term Rental Unit Business License and Regulation Bylaw is making its way through the process, receiving third reading on Monday, October 25, 2021.
Air BnB has reached out to the city offering some suggestion for fine-tuning the bylaw, saying the current draft covers a lot of solid groundwork in offering a balanced regulatory framework for Kimberley. That letter came in as a late item on council’s agenda for their meeting but Planner Justin Cook said he did read it and will respond to Air BnB.
After first and second readings, public consultations were undertaken and a lot of feedback was received, mainly from short term rental operators in the city. This has led to some proposed amendments to the bylaw before it is adopted.
Earlier drafts of the bylaw had included outdoor signage requirements identifying the operator and contact person. Operators were concerned that this had privacy implications, in addition to perhaps being in contravention of strata rules in some areas. Signage with contact information will be inside only.
All short term rental units have to designate a responsible person to be available in the event of an issue. An amendment will allow the owners to act as the responsible person as long as they are able to get to the property within two hours.
Other amendments were made around the fee structure and fines.
The bylaw will come back to council for adoption later this fall.
READ: Kimberley is developing a policy on short term rentals
READ: Kimberley short term rental bylaw will come to Council this fall
carolyn.grant@kimberleybulletin.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter