Stanstead-Township sued by short-term rental property owners

Stanstead Township is facing a lawsuit to the tune of $1.8 million from property owners operating shortterm rental businesses in zones RD-1, RD2, VC-2, VE-1 in the municipality.

The owners were told to cease their short-term rental operations by December, 2017 after bylaw 403-2017 was voted down in those specific zones.

Mayor Francine Caron Markwell confirmed that the municipality is being sued by Hébergia, a company that builds and rents out chalets and properties, but she could not comment on the specifics of the case.

Following complaints in 2015 from locals about the rental properties causing disturbances in the neighbourhood, council discovered that between May of 2011 and March of 2014, the municipal building inspector had issued permits to property owners in the zones in question authorizing short term rentals.

According to the town’s bylaws, there was only one zone in the municipality where short-term rentals were permitted. Even so, the inspector gave the green light to a number of property owners to rent in other zones.

Bylaw 403-2017 was an attempt to rectify the problem by allowing short-term rentals, but with conditions included prevent disturbing locals. The bylaw was adopted unchallenged in nine zones of the municipality, withdrawn from one (Georgeville), and rejected in four zones.

Now the town is caught between a rock and a hard place. With the bylaw referendum, the locals clearly demonstrated that they do not want their neighbourhoods disturbed by short-term renters coming and going constantly. The rental property owners, however, are asserting what they consider is a legal right to rent based on authorization given by the previous building inspector.