After about four years of discussions, surveys, open houses and lengthy debates regarding short-term rentals in Plympton-Wyoming, the town has deferred the matter to a later date.
At its meeting Monday, town council voted to direct staff to seek clarification on legal issues surrounding a possible bylaw for owner-occupied short-term rentals.
Councillor Kristen Rodrigues said while some neighbouring communities have implemented owner-occupied regulations, Plympton-Wyoming is different.
"My concern with that is, in our jurisdiction, we don't have any hotels or other type of occupancy-short-term for people to stay at, with the exception of one little cute hotel in Reeces Corners," said Rodrigues. "People need short-term accommodations for work, for weddings or funerals, family reunions, all kinds of reasons."
There are 76 short-term rental listings in Plympton-Wyoming, representing 66 unique rental units, mostly along Lake Huron.
The town launched a survey last spring to gauge public input on a plan and received nearly 220 responses according to Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Adam Sobanski
"It found 67 per cent, approximately, believe that STRs should be regulated, 24 per cent believe that they should not," Sobanski told council. "Then 65 per cent of participants felt that STRs are somewhat uncomfortable in their neighbourhoods, 32 per cent felt there was no issue, 56 per cent felt that STRs negatively impact their property values and 30 per cent felt there was no impacts."
The matter has been in front of council since 2020, and councillor Mike Vasey said over the years, he's gone back and forth on the issue.
"Either we put laws in place that we can take away the conflicts that are happening by having the bylaw officers deal with it, or we ban them outright," said Vasey.
Staff will report back to council within the coming months.
It was hoped, had council voted on a bylaw or licensing program at its meeting on Monday, that it would be in effect sometime this summer.