Niagara-on-the-Lake planning staff had recommended councillors establish a limit on the number of short-term rental units in town, and eventually eliminate licences for operating a cottage or villa.
But councillors Tuesday again deferred voting on a short-term rental bylaw, the third time they have refused to approve a recommendation this year.
Councillors also wanted to hold another series of public engagement events with residents and short-term rental owners before endorsing a bylaw. Those sessions are expected to extend into early 2026.
Fire Chief Jay Plato, who is also director of municipal enforcement, said one of the reasons there was limited public engagement after council’s June meeting was that councillors did not specify the topic for the public meetings.
In May, councillors directed town officials to meet with local operators about proposed bylaw changes, focusing on such issues as enforcement and capping licences. During the June meeting, councillors again approved a recommendation for staff to discuss with residents density, as well as cottage and villa limits.
Councillors asked staff to collect further information about whether the current moratorium on the number of licences for short-term rentals should continue, while also phasing out cottage rentals.
It was a decision Norm Arsenault of Niagara-on-the-Lake Residents Association criticized.
Although, he said he would like staff to discuss the proposed bylaw with representatives of the association.
He said the recommended bylaw still did not address several items, including prohibiting short-term rentals with a pool, establishing spacing requirements between short-term rental accommodations of 150 metres and identifying density criteria.
The town temporarily halted accepting applications for short-term rental licences in December 2024. The moratorium on the number of licences issued was established until an analysis of the industry and a draft bylaw is approved by council, which was scheduled to occur in June.
In 2021, the short-term rental committee reviewed the bylaw and provided council with 33 recommendations to update the program.
There are now 399 short-term rental facilities, encompassing about 1,000 rooms, with 210 cottages, 21 villas, 18 vacation apartments, 136 bed and breakfast homes and 14 country inns. Staff has said about 58% of the short-term rentals are in Old Town, and 53% of rentals are cottages.