Niagara Falls building gets okay to add Vacation Rental Units
Published August 18, 2023 at 3:02 pm
The zoning needed a bit of tweaking but Niagara Falls city council has okayed the addition of Vacation Rental Units (VRU) to a Buchanan Ave. building.
The major zoning change was to allow the VRUs in an area that presently prohibits them, a point driven home by local residents during a July 26 public open house.
The owners of 5705 Buchanan Ave., Vikrampal and Baljit Moomie, asked council to change the current zoning, which does not allow VRUs.
The neighbours complained that by allowing the addition of VRUs, the neighbourhood would have to deal with excessive noise and improper garbage disposal, a decline in nearby property standards, parties with a large number of guests. They also argued that by okaying VRUs, it would open up the door to similar requests from other property owners.
City staff responded that the licensing by-law “is a mechanism to regulate the operational aspects of a vacation rental unit to control excessive noise, garbage disposal, property standards and to ensure that the owner has adequate insurance coverage.”
They added that any violations of the bylaw were dealt with quickly and included a penalty, such as the suspension of the licence to operate a VRU.
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According to city records, 5705 Buchanan Ave., built in 1903, was originally a detached home that has since been converted to a three-unit building consisting of one two-bedroom unit and two three-bedroom units.
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