A city councillor in Sudbury wants to add occupancy limits to short-term rentals in the city due to complaints about noise, parking and the impact on septic systems. Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh is hoping to get support for her motion at the Sept. 15 meeting that would limit short-term rentals to two people per room, and a maximum of eight people. If approved, city staff would create changes to the existing bylaw and it would come back for a vote early next year. “We have to find that balance between, you know, making them available and being open to it, but also protecting the neighbours and the environment,” McIntosh said. She said Sudbury’s many lakes attract people to visit the community, but some restrictions have to be in place, following suit with other communities. Similar rules are in place in French River. French River Mayor Gisèle Pageau said overcrowded short-term rentals were stressing septic systems – and neighbours. “And so we had to put regulations in that were reasonable,” Pageau said. “We love having tourists here. We love having them come. But, you know, there are … are certain regulations you must follow.” Too many rules However, Gordon Olsen, a spokesperson for Myah Rentals, which operates three short-term rentals in Sudbury, said the city risks making the system too complicated without justification. “A bylaw is a bylaw -- noise is not permitted,” Olsen said. “Fires are not permitted if they’re not allowed. So you don’t have them. Parking is permitted the way this town has already set it up or the city is set it up. So enforce those bylaws. That’s all you need to do. Don’t create new regulations. We’re regulated enough.” But McIntosh said she has heard first-hand that issues exist and residents aren’t sure where to turn for help. “One resident that called me said, you know, the city told me I have to call the health unit, I have to call the conservation authority, I have to call building services,” she said. “And it didn’t seem to me to be fair that a resident not being able to sleep at three in the morning because of noise should have to jump through all those hoops.” But Olsen said they provide their contact information to neighbours and screen potential renters, which he said does deter some people. “You can’t guarantee that it’s always going to be a good stay, but we have systems in place and people that can be reached out to to deal with an issue in the instant that it happens,” he said. “And it’s over and they check out the next day.”
