Affordable housing, short-term rentals debated at Charlottetown public meeting

Charlottetown city council had one more go Tuesday at a public meeting on short-term rental regulations.

Council held a meeting on the issue in May. With regulations drafted following that meeting, council wanted to give residents another opportunity to comment.

On Tuesday evening, housing advocates said they feel the city council is "finally" hearing their concerns, while some short-term rental owners suggested the regulations being proposed go too far.

The proposed plan would only allow short-term rentals in the owner's primary residence. Apartments could not be used as short-term rentals.

Turnout was lower than at the public meeting in May, with about 150 people at Confederation Centre, and others tuning into a live stream on the city's website. About 25 people spoke, a majority of them in favour of the proposed regulations.

"City council and city staff, or at least some folks on city council and city staff, have finally started to appreciate and understand and really hear what has been said for years," said Jonathan Greenan, a renter in Charlottetown who spoke at the meeting.

"Commercial short term rentals, every single one of them, takes away a housing unit — being it an apartment unit, condo, full home — that could potentially be housing residents."

The rules being proposed strike a good balance, Greenan said.

'Misguided and ridiculous'

Some short-term rental owners think the proposed regulations go too far.

"I recognize access to affordable housing is a challenge in Charlottetown, as it is in every city in Canada. However, any notion that over regulation, and in some cases, outright banning STRs is going to fix the affordability challenge is misguided and ridiculous," said Terrie Williams, a commercial short-term rental operator, speaking remotely through an audio link.

The onus is on the government to solve issues around affordable housing, she said.

"We are not some big commercial entities. We are residents of Charlottetown and we contribute heavily to the tax base in Charlottetown," Williams said.

Other short-term rental owners were hoping the city would consider grandfathering them under existing rules. Greenan spoke against that plan, saying too many operators are stretching or not following existing rules.

Under the current guidelines, short-term rental operators are supposed to register with the province under the Tourism Act, as well as with the city, which comes with some levees and fees.

A report from Charlottetown's department of planning and heritage put out in September said out of 635 short-term rental listings in Charlottetown, only 265 are properly registered with Tourism P.E.I. That means more than half don't comply with provincial rules.

"A lot of the short-term rental operators are also business owners. They fully understand the concept of risk in opening business," said Clair Byrne, who has lived in Charlottetown her whole life and rents in the city.

"The risk they took was they took advantage of a lack of regulations. The risk was that regulations could come at any minute."

Byrne believes short-term rental operators can still turn a profit if they bring their units into the long-term rental market. She said her landlord used to run the place she lives in as a short-term rental but he decided to rent long-term.

"If long-term tenancy isn't something that these short-term rental operators want, then they can just sell their properties," she said.

"We can't be comparing our collective need for safe and adequate housing with the desires for wealth of a small group of people."

$8.5M in revenue

STR owners are making money, Byrne said that is backed up by data the city's report.

It said about 400 hosts made a total of $8.5 million in 2019 alone.

Williams targeted city planner Robert Zilke, suggesting data he presented in the report on short-term rentals in the city was false and calling him biased on the issue.

Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown had to cut off another short-term rental owner for targeting comments toward Zilke. Brown made it clear Zilke was merely presenting data gathered and the final decision falls on council.

While some short-term rental operators agree some regulations are needed, the regulations being proposed won't work for them.

"These kinds of regulations kind of impact the job we do and our capacity to help new people," said Juan Carniel, who runs KY Home Solution.

He immigrated to Canada from Italy in 2017 and moved to P.E.I. about six months ago. He said his business helps people new to Canada have a place to stay as they look for more stable housing.

"When they arrive to the Island… they have nothing, they have no credit score, no references so it is very hard for them to find a place to live," he said.

"These families sometimes stay for a month, two months, three months, but sometimes they only need a couple weeks to familiarize themselves."

Carniel worries the regulations being proposed might put him out of business. He said he is concerned having to live in the dwelling he is operating would make some people immigrating to the province uncomfortable.

Bob Gray, chair of the city's affordable housing advisory committee, a group made up of renters and landlords in the city, spoke on behalf of the committee, which is in favour of the proposed regulations.

Nathan Rotman, who provides public policy in Canada for Airbnb also called into the meeting. He said primary residence restriction would impact and limit the earning potential of those with small Airbnb operations, and suggested the city work with the province to establish short-term rental licensing regulations province wide.

Vote next year

Information gathered at the public meeting will be put into a package for the planning board, which will then make a recommendation for council to vote on, said Coun. Terry MacLeod, chair of planning and heritage with the city.

"It's important, you know, we listen to everybody, we want to make sure whatever bylaw we put in place we want to be fair and equal for everybody," he said.

The council vote will likely come early in the new year, he said.

All members of city council were in attendance except for Greg Rivard and Mitch Tweel, who declared conflicts of interest.

The city is still taking written statements concerning the regulations until Nov. 19.