The Town of Amherstburg has approved a new short term rental by-law.
During Monday's special meeting, council met with short term rentals as a topic where council members needed to choose one of two options to implement a new by-law.
The proposed by-laws have been written with the same requirements, enforcement regulations and conditions with the exemption of either being owner occupied or non-owner occupied.
Council decided to go forward with the non-owner occupied by-law, meaning those who do not live in the homes are able to rent out their home.
The by-law also requires a fire inspection along with securing a Short Term Rental Owner Licence, which is $550 for the initial application, and $500 yearly to renew it.
The by-law will ensure that those occupying the rental can be two people per bedroom, with an additional two persons, and outdoor
hot tub or pool usage is limited during the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Linden Crain, Amherstburg councillor, says there is a list of things the property owner will need to have completed.
"We have a Fire Prevention officer that will have to visit the site, there's a Vulnerable Sector Check for the property owners. If the owner of the property that's renting it out is not within the Windsor-Essex area, or is not in a close distance, they will have to have somebody that can be a point of contact to address any issues should they arise and the property owner is not able to attend on site."
He says there have been complaints from residents who live near short term rentals, especially near the edge water area and Boblo Island.
"They want to go to the beach area, they want to be renting a property down by the water, so it was a concern for sure. But, we hope that through Property Standards By-Laws, using Windsor Police Service, the tools that we have right now, that residents can call those individuals and deal with issues of people being out late at night, in a hot tub as an example, or loud music."
Crain adds that they were looking to make sure residents as well as renters were happy.
"At the end of the day we want to make sure both sides are happy. We understand a short term rental is a business as well. And based on my opinion, the route we went was the right one because it doesn't limit those that own the short term rentals currently. We don't want to push them aside, just like we don't want to push the residents aside."
Short term rental owners now have a 90-day window to reach out to the By-Law manger with the Town of Amherstburg to learn more about what is required of the owners.
The new by-law will either by implemented later this year or early next year depending on the number of inquiries the Town receives.
Council has been considering the new by-law since September 2022, where they later conducted an online survey as well as a public open house to get feedback.
-with files from AM800's Rob Hindi