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Old 07-14-2016, 09:22 AM   #18
PostandIn
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Join Date: Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by GGG View Post
I more wondering how airbnb / manages to skirt hotel/bnb zoning when it's effectively like trying to say uber isn't a livery business. Or does Sherwood park just blanket allow it to exist.
I'm not aware of the County's official position. I think that they see, like I do, areas of grey but are not compelled to do anything in particular unless there is ongoing public concern or repeated high profile events. They do not have by-law that expressly forbid this approach to renting. I thinks it's fair to say the most Airbnb hosts own their properties as personal investments (i.e. not corporations), so by definition the properties are not commercial hotels. Airbnb is simply a marketplace for hosts and renters to do business. The fundamentals are the same with advertising on Kijiji and doing all the administration myself, paying an agency (of which there are plenty) to do it for me or managing through Airbnb.

There is no definition in County by-laws for how long a rental or lease agreement must be. Legal basement suites are encouraged in Sherwood Park and there is a program that rebates a fairly substantial chunk of development costs in exchange for reduced rental rates for low income people. Where I think there could potentially be a problem is not with local by-laws but with certain provisions of the Provincial Residential Tenancies Act. The Act talks about joint inspections within the first week of tenancy, requirements for written notifications, hand over of physical keys, etc., a bunch of things that Airbnb does as a surrogate. Time will tell. This would hardly be the only Act that doesn't reflect technology advances and how business is done in 2016.
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