The town of Bonavista has put a freeze on the permitting process for any new accommodations businesses in the community until they can implement new rules to better regulate Airbnbs.

Mayor John Norman says the town has seen an explosion in short-term accommodations, such as Airbnbs, in recent years but that’s causing problems.

Norman says changes would involve reviewing their town plan, and updating existing bylaws and zoning regulations.

He says over 100 Airbnbs have opened up in the town, which is concerning because more and more residential properties are available for short-term use.

He says it created “deadzones” in the town. As an example, he says a laneway where there were once seven residential homes now has three converted to Airbnbs. So the area is really active a few months of the year, and then it goes quiet when the accommodations are shut down.

Having those accommodations on quiet side streets is also causing a headache for residents.

Norman says those former homes are now essentially businesses, where two or three couples could be staying at any given time. He says those streets, which may have only been designed to have one vehicle per home, now have multiple vehicles trying to park.

The town is hoping to have the new rules in place for the beginning of the tourism season in April.