Hotel industry wants city to pass tougher bylaw
The City of Regina has been subject to “pretty significant” lobbying from the hotel industry over Airbnb rentals, which continue to evade bylaw enforcement efforts.
So far, only a single property owner is known to have sought approval for a residential homestay in accordance with a 2013 bylaw. Dr. Jamsheed Desai was at planning commission last week asking for permission to continue hosting short-stay guests at his second home on Albert Street.
Regina Hotel Association CEO Tracy Fahlman came to raise concerns over the application. She said online postings for homestays in Regina have grown by 30 per cent in the past year and a half. The leading platform, Airbnb, is currently advertising 238 rentals in the city. All but Desai’s are apparently outside the law.
In Fahlman’s view, many homestays operate like businesses and should be paying commercial taxes.
“We will be asking the city to consider levelling that playing field,” she said.
“What we’re hoping to do is work with the city administration to help and assist in modernizing those bylaws and come forward with something that would be of benefit to the community.”
Mayor Michael Fougere said that Fahlman has expressed her concerns to him on a few occasions, and has also submitted a “white paper” to city staff. Asked about the extent of the hotel industry’s lobbying efforts, he said he thinks they have been “pretty significant.”
“The hotel association has weighed in on what they think should be done, because this is in many ways a direct competitor to them,” he explained, adding that the city has also heard concerns from residents who feel the homestays have an impact on their neighbourhoods.
Fahlman said there has been “back and forth” with city officials, but called the discussions “preliminary.”
The city’s executive director of planning and development, Diana Hawryluk, said she would need direction from council to work on proposing changes. But she acknowledged there are “questions about whether we would want to go to licensing.”
The existing framework requires homestay hosts to seek approval from planning commission and council through the so-called discretionary use process. A standard discretionary-use application costs $2,500.
Fougere said that basic idea makes sense.
“Discretionary use is a way to have the community know what’s happening and that’s an important element of approval,” he said.
“I think the process is fine, we just need to move forward on that.”
But the city has faced significant challenges in cracking down on Airbnb hosts who ignore the bylaw. Fire Chief Layne Jackson said officers need to gather enough evidence before they can act in most cases.
“It has been difficult to, I guess, gather the evidence required to prove that someone’s staying for the duration that’s indicated in the bylaw,” said bylaw enforcement manager Chris Warren.
“We need proof that there’s been an exchange of money.”
Fahlman said the city should look at changes like limiting shortterm rentals to a resident’s primary home. She said her main concern is “commercial operators” who rent out multiple residences as hotels, without complying with the same health and safety standards.
“We’re not against an individual using a home-sharing platform in their house to make a little bit of extra money,” she said.
She also has the Saskatchewan Hotel & Hospitality Association behind her. In a June interview with the Leader-post, its president — Jim Bence — called residential homestays “an underground economy.”
“The commercial operations are illegal hotels — it’s simply unfettered, it’s unbridled,” he said. “They’re just allowed to be able to operate in any way that they please.”
But neither Bence nor Fahlman could point to any such large scaleoperations in Regina or Saskatoon, and admitted that the concern was based on the experience of other cities.
As for Desai’s application, Regina Planning Commission decided his homestay complies with the existing bylaw and sent it to city council for final approval. Coun. Bob Hawkins called Desai “a good neighbour.”
“Thank you for honouring the process,” he said.