OTTAWA - The City of Ottawa held a second consultation on rental housing in Ottawa to address regulations on short-term rental properties.
The meeting comes just days after a shooting at an Airbnb house on Benson Street in Nepean, the meeting had been scheduled before the shooting happened.
"Our worst fears came true," said Rob Hanlon, the next door neighbour to the home involved in the shooting.
"We realized it originated at the ghost-hotel that is operating at 5 Benson Street."
The term 'ghost-hotel' is slang for a short-term rental house or apartment, like an Airbnb, where the homeowner is not present or on site.
"The cities hands in a way are tied," said Hanlon.
"The owner isn't there, he's overseas."
Hanlon and his wife had been documenting the suspicious activity and rowdy tenants at 5 Benson Street for more than a year and says more regulations should have been implemented months ago.
The city meanwhile says officials have been looking into the short-term rental market, hiring consulting firm MacLaren Municipal Consulting, to study the issue and what to do about short-term rentals, like Airbnb and VRBO.
In the firm's report, there were 13 recommendations made to crack-down on the rental market, including, paid registration for short-term rental properties, the banning of “commercial operators” like absentee-owners in residential areas, and fines of up to $1000 per day for those not following the rules.
Hundreds of residents packed the Nepean Sportsplex to provide their feedback on the recommendations.
But there has been mixed reaction among residents over the additions rental homes like Airbnb to the market.
For some homeowners, it adds a source of income and helps pay off a mortgage. For some tenants, it's a more affordable and flexible living situation.
Airbnb super host Claire Laroche is a respected homeowner who rents her primary residence on Airbnb, but fears hosts like her will pay for others' bad behavior.
"I'm still skeptical," said Laroche.
"The extra regulations that we heard in the room is going to kill us because we're going to have to abide by all these rules, it'll make it so complicated, I may just pull out of Airbnb."
A spokesperson for Airbnb says they are committed to working with communities like Ottawa on smart regulations that support responsible home sharing.
Feedback provided Wednesday will be considered in a staff report presented to the Community and Protective Services Committee on November 15. The report will then go before city council before the end of the month.
