Halifax councillor’s move to delay short-term rental regulations shot down

A motion from Halifax Coun. Shawn Cleary to delay the city’s short-term rental regulations until May 2024 has been ruled out of order.

In February, councillors voted in favour of regulating short-term rentals such as Airbnb, with the changes being implemented in September.

The regulations include limiting rentals to the host’s primary residence in residential zones. Cleary was one of three councillors to vote against the regulations at the time.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, Mayor Mike Savage said Cleary had circulated a motion to postpone the changes, which are slated to begin Sept. 1.

“That motion, I’m afraid, is not in order,” Savage said, before inviting the municipality’s lawyer to explain further.

Municipal solicitor John Traves told council that a motion of rescission is not in order when it comes to matters involving planning documents and passing bylaws.

“It’s akin to trying to unring the bell,” he said. “The bell has rung and that has been done.”

If council wanted to, they could try adding it to the agenda with a two-thirds vote – though Traves said there may be legal challenges with moving forward.

“Where this was the outcome of a public hearing where council considered this and settled on that date, it’s a challenge to find that this would not impact somebody, at the end of the day, in terms of having made arrangements based on the date that council has set,” he said.

“Council’s kind of tied its hands on the matter.”

Cleary’s motion was not added to Tuesday’s agenda.

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During lunch break Tuesday, Cleary told Global News he’s heard from “dozens and dozens” of his constituents who will be negatively affected by the short-term rental regulations.

“These are real hardships for real residents here, and the benefit on the housing side is not clear and it’s probably not very big,” he said.

Cleary — who said he does not own any short-term rental properties himself — said he wanted to delay the new regulations to collect more data from the province’s short-term rental registry.

“Then we could actually track and see if any of these convert to long-term rentals…. The property owner may not want long-term tenants on their property with them,” he said.

“My fear is we may only get a few dozen units or 100 units convert to long-term rentals, but real financial pain for a lot of property owners who were doing a legal business at the time and now it won’t be legal anymore.”

Ahead of the regulations being approved in February, councillors had heard from a number of residents, both for and against further regulation of short-term rentals.

Some speaking in favour of more regulation brought up the city’s ongoing housing crisis, while short-term rental owners pushed back against the regulations, saying they would impact their livelihoods.

In the end, councillors voted 13-3 in favour of regulating short-term rentals, with councillors Cleary, Becky Kent, and Trish Purdy voting against.

According to a municipal staff report, the prevalence of short-term rentals has grown “significantly” in the last decade. It estimated there are around 2,000 active short-term rental listings in HRM.

“While some of this growth is welcome within the tourist sector, the growth has also impacted traditionally residential neighbourhoods and the availability and affordability of long-term rental housing,” the report said.