Dear Editor:
RE: Centre Wellington will regulate short-term rentals, Oct. 3.
My husband and I have successfully operated a small Airbnb in the basement apartment of our home in Fergus for the past seven years.
We do not have guests staying there unless we are at home, with the exception of a few of our longer-term guests whom we have gotten to know well. Our neighbours know this and have never had to complain.
We participated in one of the sessions run by MacLaren Municipal Consultants, along with several other Airbnb owners. We were hoping that the consultants would have used at least some of the recommendations and comments made in our lively and meaningful discussion in the final report.
Instead, this article highlights negative comments from some residents who say that “Airbnbs are the wild west of the accommodation industry” and that “Hosts claim to live in the home but get around it.”
We are aware that some Airbnb owners are negligent and are not present at the site. This should surely be regulated, with rules about noise regulations included. Airbnbs need not be a disruption to any neighbourhood. Even guests at hotels can be noisy and disruptive.
We would like to have the municipality help with the formation of a CW Airbnb Owners Association, where we could support one another. Note that most of us would have to do major retrofitting to comply with rules for long-term rentals, so that is why we choose to only do short-term.
Like many of our Airbnb colleagues, we love Centre Wellington and want to share it with others. Airbnb’s original mandate was “house sharing”. We have had guests who have attended weddings and funerals, family gatherings, sports and arts events, medical and pet appointments. We have hosted construction, trades and hospital workers (including during the pandemic), even senior management at Groves hospital.
We feel we have served our community well and would only accept a fair and reasonable licensing fee if one is put in place.
Felicia Urbanski,
Fergus