Saskatoon's public consultation on Airbnbs slammed as 'comedy of errors'

Saskatoon city councillors have put the brakes on approving new rules for Airbnbs and other short-term rentals after hearing the city's public consultation process was flawed.

Jeff Jackson, the former chair of the city's municipal planning commission and a former Airbnb host, didn't mince words Monday night at city hall.

"Through this comedy of errors, your city administration has completely mishandled community engagement and ongoing communication on this file," Jackson said. "Quite simply, [it] was done in bad faith."

The city has proposed that short-term rental properties defined as properties that the owner rents out but doesn't live in be regulated through discretionary-use applications, at least for applications to launch short-term rentals inlow- and medium-density residential areas.

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Jackson said that when the city hosted an open house about the proposed rules for the local industrylast October, it advertised a discretionary-use application fee of $1,050 and gathered feedback based on that fee.

But as Jackson pointed out, the application fee has since been hiked to $2,500.

"Not until the next day was that info shared with attendees of the open house," Jackson said."That was misleading to the public."

Asked by Coun.Randy Donauer if he thought the change in fees would have had a material impact on the engagement, Jackson replied, "I think it would have caused some real negative feedback."

City responds

Coun.Bev Duboisasked the city to respond to the negative feedback reported by Jackson and others.

Mark Wilson, the city's manager of licensing and permitting, said the consultation done last yearwas based on extensive feedback gathered in 2017.

"We needed to build on previous engagement, not to start the process over again and again and again," Wilson said.

Wilson said he could appreciate "that for people coming into the process in 2019, it may have felt like we skipped a few steps."

As of Tuesday afternoon, the city's engagement website for the proposed rules still featured conflicting information on the fee amount. The home page said it cost $2,500. But a related clickable documentcalled "STR Regulations Review and Engagement Update" still touted the older, lower fee.

Wilson told councillors Monday the city is working on a new website on short-term accommodationsthat will outline "all those application requirements for owners."

Perceived barrier for upstarts

Jackson said the increased fee amount could be a financial barrier to people launching short-term rentals.

Eric Lau, who currently operates anAirbnbin the city, agreed.

"I haven't found the margins to be that great where I could absorb such a cost as that," Lausaid.

Jackson suggested the city regulate short-term rentals through business licences.

Councillors asked the city to report back on licences in April.