Short Term Rental Restrictions

Dear Councillor,

I am writing you today to express my concerns over the short-term rental by-law due to be ratified on January 25. While I welcome licencing and added safety measures, I do not support restricting short-term rentals to primary homeowner residences.

The housing supply issue that the by-law aims to increase is already being addressed with recent zoning and secondary suite amendments. The short-term rental by-law is overly restrictive, infringes on homeowner property rights, and is unjustly prescriptive. Further, it is a burden to people visiting our city for medical, educational or business purposes. Council should be focused on building and developing housing supply rather than infringing on private property rights.

The short-term rental market provides economic benefits. This overreaching by-law sends the wrong message to investors and is contrary to the Open for Business image of Hamilton. It is unfair to those currently operating a short-term rental without issue to lose their business because of a few bad actors. Any regulatory oversight should benefit the industry rather than eradicate it.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my input.