Whitefish Ordinance Restricts Reservations at Hotels, Short-term Rentals

The Whitefish City Council on Sunday morning enacted an emergency ordinance prohibiting hotels and short-term rentals from accepting reservations for non-essential purposes through April 30, becoming the first city in Montana to do so and marking the municipality’s most dramatic step to date to halt the spread of coronavirus.

Gathering for a special session remotely via video conference, members of council and city administrators said they proposed the temporary restrictions in light of new data revealing a trend of individuals leaving areas with high concentrations of COVID-19 cases in order to “shelter in place” in small, cloistered communities like Whitefish.

The ordinance excludes reservations for essential purposes including government, health care, law enforcement, domestic violence victims, personnel responding to the COVID-19 emergency, essential workers as defined by federal and state guidelines, family members of those seeking medical treatment, and those individuals who have a medical recommendation to quarantine outside of their home.

The emergency ordinance, which council approved unanimously, comes just days after city officials urged lodging establishments and short-term rentals to voluntarily stop accepting new reservations. That move was prompted by a Montana Free Press story citing data from AirDNA — a company that analyzes usage data related to the short-term rental industry — showing the number of vacation rental reservations in Montana had skyrocketed in recent weeks, especially in the Flathead Valley.

Read more: https://flatheadbeacon.com/2020/04/05/whitefish-ordinance-restricts-reservations-hotels-short-term-rentals/