Short-term rental: the Town has submitted its new regulatory proposal

The Town presented a new proposal for a regulatory approach to short-term rentals at the public meeting held last Saturday, April 22, 2023. The 40 or so people in attendance or in line also heard an excellent presentation by Professor David Wachsmuth and doctoral student Chloé St-Hilaire on short-term rentals and the housing problem in the Eastern Townships.

This latest draft of the Town’s regulatory proposal is the result of a careful analysis of the issues surrounding short-term rentals, their positive and negative impacts and the concerns expressed by citizens through the comments received. A distinction is made between short-term rentals of primary residences (permitted throughout the Town) and short-term rentals of tourist residences, known as commercial tourist accommodation, which would be subject to several conditions. In both cases, prior to obtaining any authorization from the Town, certifications would be required concerning the compliance of the septic installation, fire safety compliance and the quality of the drinking water.

The proposals will be submitted to Town Council, which is expected to decide on their adoption at its June 7 meeting.

The presentation document (English version coming soon) has been posted on the Dream Sutton website, in the Useful Links section.

The public meeting was recorded and can be viewed on the Town’s YouTube channel in the Information Sessions section.