By Vanessa Balintec

Dysart et al council will be discussing regulating yurts.

“The current one needs to be examined” said Councillor John Smith about the zoning bylaw during the May 28 council meeting. “It’s a non-compliant structure right now and it has a temporary building permit and the temporary window is long expired. And I see them on Airbnb being used fairly regularly.”

Smith found yurts advertised on Airbnb as private residential dwellings. According to Section 3 of the zoning bylaw any occupation of an accessory structure for gain or profit is not allowed unless specifically permitted.

According to the yurt discussion report a yurt typically consists of a wooden circular frame carrying a felt vinyl or canvas fabric cover. Yurts are currently permitted as accessory structures such as a private cabin.

“Without naming them it becomes a free-for-all” said Mayor Andrea Roberts.

“We can move forward with identifying which zones they should be regulated in and then for what type of usage we can regulate them” said Karl Korpela chief building official.

Yurt zone use and how to classify the building structure will be investigated.