Wainfleet council members Terry Gilmore and John MacLellan warned recently during discussions on the township’s planned new short-term rental bylaw that upstanding, responsible owners of short-term rentals would likely get caught in the crossfire of new rules required to control wild party homes operated by irresponsible owners.
Courtney Smith appears to be one of those impacted by that collateral damage.
Smith appeared before Wainfleet council on May 16 to say that while she supports the idea of a bylaw to regulate and control short-term rentals (STRs) increasingly common in the lakeshore area where she and her husband have operated one since 2022, certain conditions in the draft bylaw would likely force the couple to sell their home.
Extended families rent her four-bedroom home and cherish being able to have different generations including grandparents spend time together on the one-acre property, but the limit of number of people staying at an STR home to six would not allow that.
Smith said that selling her home would have negative spinoff impacts because she hires numerous local people and businesses to help with her STR for services ranging from cleaning and window cleaning to landscaping, plumbing, electrical work, snow removal and lawn care, and breakwall repairs and maintenance.
Smith stressed that her family has rented their STR out more than 50 times and has had no noise complaints, and that she is in excellent standing with her neighbours — some of whom also operate STRs. She said she needs the revenue from STR rentals to help pay her mortgage on the property.
“It’s five to 10 per cent that are crazies that we have to control,” said MacLellan. “And the only way to control it is, you have to control everybody. So unfortunately you get caught in the trap because of the bad operators.
Like other cities and towns in Niagara and across Ontario, Wainfleet has invested a lot of time trying to come up with an STR bylaw that navigates the complex legalities related to trying to regulate the properties that in some cases are operated by absentee landlords.
Last June, Wainfleet politicians imposed a temporary freeze on any new STRs in the township while work continues to put in place a system to regulate and license rentals.