Editor:
Sechelt council has recently reported that there are an astounding 153 Airbnbs operating in the district. Even more alarming, they estimate that 40 per cent of these (roughly 60) are doing so without the required business licence.
This is unfair both to the 60 per cent who do operate responsibly, and to us taxpayers who will no doubt need the money when we are found liable after an accident at one of these scofflaws, because council knowingly permitted them to remain open. Nor does it provide much incentive for the coming wave of new operators to bother with compliance.
This failure to enforce bylaws has occurred largely because the rapid onset of Airbnbs has rendered the current ones obsolete. In response, Sechelt council is now considering how to address this burgeoning problem, but states that making the correct decision is complicated by a lack of public input.
I urge you to make your opinions known before it is too late.
Douglas Tims, Sechelt
