A proposed committee dealing with short-term rentals in Highland East has been scrapped.
Council determined that with 15 of the 18 applicants to the committee having rental properties a conflict of interest was inevitable.
The idea of the committee was to look for solutions for regulating rentals through services such as Airbnb.
Mayor Dave Burton read a statement from the December 6th meeting.
“With the above information, we will not be proceeding with a Short-term Accommodation Committee,” the statement said. “The issue has been very continuous and provided a divide in our beautiful municipality.”
The committee was meant to advise council on a bylaw regarding short-term rentals. In the statement, council indicated it would be looking to step up bylaw enforcement efforts regarding the issue. It came about from a public meeting in August when a draft bylaw was introduced to regulate short-term rentals.