Zoning Committee Holds Public Hearing

A public hearing on short-term rentals was held at the Cascade Public Schools cafeteria Thursday evening with about 25 citizens in attendance. The Zoning Committee was proposing changes to the current ordinance on short-term rentals. Currently, short-term rentals are limited to business areas, to existing airbnbs and those grandfathered in. There are currently 3-5 airbnbs in the town of Cascade. Mayor Moore said that the Zoning Committee was proposing to remove all restrictions to anybody who has property in town.

Zoning member, Channing Hartelius said that it was more than what the Mayor had said. He said that there is a misunderstanding due to misinformation, and that that was the purpose for the public hearing, to hear their proposal and see what the pubic thinks about the changes. He presented as an example the case of a couple who were trying to sell their property. The potential buyer said he would buy it only if he could use it as an airbnb. The realtor called the city to see if this was possible and was told they couldn't do that. Even long-term rentals were told they couldn't rent their basement, or house , or attic. Mr. Hartelius said this was improper advice.and there needed to be clarification to make sure there was no confusion. He said the Supreme Court of Montana said that unless you could define "residence", then it's ambiguous, and short-term rentals are permitted under the state of Montana.

Concerns were raised about outsiders coming in and buying all the properties for the purpose of renting them out. How could they hedge against these people who did not live in town and who did not care who they were renting it to. They commented that it should be one person renting their own property.

Zoning Committee member Ron Flink explained that the Town Council, the Planning Committee and the Zoning Committee are all volunteers, trying to do the right thing. The question to the public is, "How do you feel about having airbnbs anywhere in town, or should they be restricted to a specific 'business' area only? The Zoning Committee is proposing that long-term rentals and short-term rentals be permitted in residential areas. They will have another meeting before presenting their proposal to the Town Council for a vote.