Bluewater adjusts Short Term Rental Bylaw

by Bob Montgomery

Bluewater Mayor Paul Klopp says council has approved a change in the deadline for people to register their property for short term rentals.

Klopp says the cut off had originally been November 1st for people to register for short term rentals but council decided to shorten that to September 30th. Klopp says that makes it fair to the people who registered earlier in the season and he adds, anyone applying now that already has two or three short term rentals near them might not have their application approved. Klopp says one reason for tightening the time frame was to get as many people applying as possible.

Klopp adds, they've also asked council to find an app that would allow them to trace all of the people who are advertising short term rentals in Bluewater so they can match that with the people who have registered as providing short term rentals just to be fair to the people who are playing by the rules.

Short term rentals have been a contentious issue in Bluewater for some time so they have introduced guidelines in the last couple of year to control things like excessive noise and he says a report from staff will be presented shortly regarding compliance with the rules that are now in place.