The town is pausing the issuance of short-term rental licenses including cottage rentals, country inns and vacation apartments, starting Dec. 10.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, councillors voted to pause the issuance of licenses in anticipation of a detailed short-term rental analysis outlining the possible limitations to be presented on July 1.
The short-term rental committee is working on a draft bylaw and pausing the issuance of new licenses, allowing them to finalize that draft, Coun. Maria Mavridis said during the meeting.
Niagara-on-the-Lake currently has around 400 licensed short-term rentals with 1,000 rooms, making up five per cent of the town’s housing supply.
The committee’s focus is unhosted rentals, which aren’t the primary residences of the owners, Mavridis said.
“The motion says to return short-term rentals back into the housing market, those that are primary residences won’t apply,” she said.
This pause will not affect applications that have already been submitted, only those sent in after Dec. 10.
Coun. Tim Balasiuk said the motion sounds more like a policy change.
“This is littered with Canadian housing issues. I just don’t think that STRs in Niagara-on-the-Lake are going to save the Canadian housing crisis,” he said.
Councillors have to recognize that NOTL is in a “bubble,” and many of the rentals are owned by people who live in town, he said.
“Trying to use this to turn existing STRs into long-term housing, I don’t understand how that could be an option,” Balasiuk said.
Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa clarified that the key detail is that the motion will not impact existing short-term rentals.
“It’s to get a better understanding of what we have and where we’re going,” Mavridis said.
Treasurer Kyle Freeborn said that during any given year, NOTL will receive around roughly 100 applications.
“There’s usually a significant turnover of applications coming in,” he said.
Public works manager Darren Mackenzie said the number of complaints regarding short-term rentals has reduced since the short-term rental bylaw decision was made.
“Most of the complaints we receive now are around noise or potential cars and parking,” he said.
All council members voted in favour of the pause except Zalepa.
