Niagara-on-the-Lake’s freeze on new short-term rental licences will remain in place until at least next year as council presses pause on further changes to its rental bylaw.
At a meeting Tuesday, councillors voted to receive a May staff report on the issue for information only and to defer any amendments until a new round of public consultations wraps up next year, ahead of tourism season’s start.
The existing freeze, first imposed last December, will continue, with one exception for a local operator who was caught in a communication mix-up.
Council also chose not to impose a hard cap on cottage and villa licences, despite ongoing complaints about noise and absentee owners.
Staff had recommended lifting the overall freeze while keeping the number of cottage and villa licences at current levels. That decision, initially expected in July, was pushed back to this week’s meeting.
Coun. Wendy Cheropita, who put forward the motion to defer amending the short-term rental bylaws, said the town should finish its upcoming report on the state of the short-term rental industry, which it’ll start early next year.
“I’d like to see the consultation still take place,” she told the committee.
This report, as clarified by Fire Chief Jay Plato during the meeting, will mainly focus on what limits should or shouldn’t be imposed on the number of short-term rentals that operate in town.
“I think let the staff go away, do the report for us and come back and then we can make our final decision,” Cheropita said.
The new consultation process is expected to finish by the second quarter of 2026.
Former councillor and NOTL Residents Association director Norm Arsenault was one of four people to address the committee on short-term rentals during Tuesday’s meeting.
He said the town has already spent enough time studying the issue.
“We believe this is the wrong approach,” he said. “It’s been consulted to death. This is a waste of valuable staff time.”
Others defended the rental industry. Chautauqua resident Mary Marello, who operates a licensed cottage rental, said responsible owners provide a positive experience for visitors.
“To this date, (our neighbours) do nothing but rave about the people we have stay,” she said.
Paul O’Connor, another operator, argued that unhosted short-term rentals make up a small percentage of local housing and should not be blamed for larger community issues.
During Tuesday’s discussion, council made an exception for James Mitton, co-owner of Luisa’s Suites Retreat, who discovered that only one of his three rooms had been properly licensed after a change in ownership.
Because of the ongoing freeze, staff were unable to issue the remaining two licences.
“We hope that the council recognizes this as a clerical error,” Mitton told councillors.
Members agreed the problem stemmed from a miscommunication and voted to allow two additional licences for his property.
Niagara-on-the-Lake’s short-term rental bylaw was introduced in 2021, requiring all operators to register their properties. It created distinct categories for bed and breakfasts, vacation homes, country inns, cottages and villas.
