Summerside council taking second look at short-term rental issue

SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Summerside metropolis councillors are taking a second take a look at insurance policies regarding short-term Airbnb-style leases.

Summerside councillor Justin Doiron introduced up the problem at an Oct. 4 assembly, the place he famous that Charlottetown is scheduled to implement a algorithm regarding short-term leases later this 12 months.

The problem has been extremely contentious in some Island communities, particularly the province’s capital, with housing advocates on one aspect arguing that Airbnb-style leases are contributing to the province’s housing disaster, whereas some enterprise homeowners argue that the precise affect is minimal and these sorts of leases assist put a refund into the native economic system by attracting vacationers.

Summerside’s bylaw and coverage evaluation committee briefly examined the problem a bit greater than two years in the past, however nothing ever got here of these discussions.

“We kind of determined we wouldn’t pursue it. Since then we’re in disaster mode right here now, so perhaps it’s time to speak about it once more,” stated Doiron.

He added that, on the time, council had heard few complaints about short-term leases in the neighborhood. However, given the severity of the housing disaster, he want to see town revisit the problem.

Coun. Brian McFeely agreed that quite a bit can change in simply two or three years, so he endorsed sending the subject again to the committee for additional dialogue.

“It’s in all probability acceptable to ship it again to the planning, coverage and evaluation committee to take one other take a look at it and decide if the world is totally different right this moment than it was two years in the past,” stated McFeely.

Colin MacLean is a reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. He may be reached by electronic mail at [email protected] and adopted on Twitter @JournalPMacLean.