City of Whitehorse officials twisted themselves into the proverbial Gordian Knot on Monday evening over the question of how to regulate short-term rentals – or whether the market should be regulated at all.

That was just one of the subjects debated during a marathon 5 1/2-hour regular council meeting that began to resemble the classic Eagles song Hotel California – particularly that haunting line, “You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.”

During the meeting, the city heard from delegates about the rentals – and also spent more than an hour debating it later in the session.

The city’s housing and land development advisory committee has put several recommendations before council intended to expand access to long-term housing.

On Feb. 19, council agreed to have city staff do further research into the impacts of short-term rentals here and the committee’s recommendations.

The study is expected to cost about $30,000 – and may take nine months or longer to complete.

Instead of using the regular bylaw engagement process, the city will do a “deep dive” with stakeholders led by a consultant, along with public input.

A decision would likely not be made by council until early 2025, when a new council will be in place after the coming October’s election.

To aid in access to housing, the committee has recommended:

• Ensuring short-term rentals meet basic health and safety requirements to obtain a business licence;

• Limiting how many short-term rentals an owner may have per property; and

• Limiting how many short-term rentals are in an area.

One of the first delegates to speak Monday was Kristina Craig, from the Yukon Anti-Poverty coalition.

Craig told council its committee studying the issue has “done the work” that should allow the city to immediately draft legislation for changes to the bylaw.

“This will help build bylaws that are common-sense.”

Craig added the proposed changes would give the city the tools it needs to manage short-term rentals.

There are parts in those recommendations that are pretty straight-forward, she added.

The coalition is mostly in support of the recommendations of the committee, Craig said.

She added it would be a “missed opportunity” not to follow the committee’s recommendations.

“Now is the time to get working on drafting the corresponding bylaw changes,” Craig added.

Coun. Ted Laking, among others, recommended a careful approach to the subject.

He noted that RCMP and medical services personnel are key users of short-term rentals, and any hasty decisions would be akin to “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

There is a place for these kind of rentals in the city, Laking added.

“It’s a more efficient way for them to staff a travelling nurse rather than take a long-term rental off the market when it might sit empty for much of the time,” he pointed out.

“I wouldn't want to unintentionally push the RCMP and hospital services into long-term rental, and it ends up accidentally taking long-term rentals off the market.”

Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu echoed some of those comments.

Clarity is needed on what part of regulating the market the city should tackle and what should be under the control of the Yukon government, she said – and not assuming the city has to have control over the whole market segment.

“I think we might be jumping into this too early,” Curteanu said, recommending in favour of a study before making any decisions.

“We want to be fair to the short-term rental market as well as the needs of long-term rentals.”

Coun. Dan Boyd agreed with that, saying the committee’s recommendations didn’t call for immediate action.

“Somebody’s going to have to do a lot of research,” he said.

Coun. Michelle Friesen had provided an alternate motion suggesting the process be sped up.

Ultimately, council decided to send the matter back to administration for more consideration and to carry out a study on the matter.

Friesen said she had hoped for a faster timeline for the issue, but would support the motion as it stood.