Plympton-Wyoming’s mayor is hopeful the town will have a bylaw to limit some of the rowdy parties at Airbnb’s in the community before they arrive this summer.

The town’s planner, Sarah Baldwin, estimates there are about 54 homes – 24 along the lakeshore – which are for rent. The short-term rentals have been a problem for some time with Blue Point residents sending a petition in 2020 to council, asking they be banned. The residents underscored that the bylaw doesn’t permit people to rent their home out unless they are also at the property.

But short-term rentals have become big business with online platforms like Airbnb making it easy to find a place to stay. Some of the Plympton-Wyoming rentals are run by local residents but Mayor Gary Atkinson says there are companies buying up homes to rent out – some with off-shore interests.
Recently, council approved a plan from Baldwin to try to pull together a bylaw to regulate the industry by this summer.

The plan sees staff looking at other municipal bylaws – including one from nearby Lambton Shores which limits the number of people and cars at a residence.

“We want to look at everything around us and see what they have but we don’t just want to adopt someone else’s plan,” he says noting Lambton Shores is still working out problems with its bylaw.

Baldwin hopes to bring a review of the bylaws to council this month. There will be a an open house in March and a public meeting in June to get public input on the proposed bylaw.

Atkinson admits it is a tight timeline but he’s optimist there will be new regulations by the time summer arrives.