Tourists spend ~ $ 86 a day while visiting Niagara Falls. The city is short ~ 8,000 hotel rooms during peak season. If we can provide local accommodations for 90 days during the peak season to just 1,000 additional tourists that adds up to $ 7.7 million tourist dollars!

Covid of course has had a significant impact on tourists and local small businesses during what normally is the most profitable time of year. Some long time and well-established local businesses have even had to permanently close as a result. We hope next year will be different but survey data shows that a majority of travelers now prefer to stay in short term rentals (STRs) where they don't have to worry about sharing common spaces with other guests. So what are we doing to ensure we're prepared for what tourists want? 

Unfortunately, the Mayor is actually trying to implement changes that if passed will result in the city being even less prepared then we are now for providing the tourists with the type of accommodations they want. The City and County Planning boards have said no to the Mayor's proposed changes so now it is up to our City Council who will be voting on them on Sept 2nd. 

Here's the full background -

In January Mayor Restaino decided to place a moratorium on issuing new permits for short term rentals (STRs). Currently, there around 70-75 that have permits,  ~ over 200 that do not have permits, and 38 properties that have applied for a permit. 

The Proposed Ordinance has several key changes including limits on where STRs can be located (a small area in downtown), requirements that all owners use Airbnb, have $ 1 million in liability insurance coverage, be inspected every year (instead of every 4 years) , pay an annual fee ($ 250 for a single unit or $ 400 for a two-unit), collect state taxes (which is in conflict with the New York State Bungalow law), and provide the names of each guest they host (which goes against Privacy laws).

None of these changes to the current ordinance (which took nearly a year to create and was done in collaboration with owners, residents, and city officials) addresses the key issue of illegal STRs. It only adds more regulation and fees to those that are already following the code with no added benefit to health or safety. 

Tell Niagara Falls City Council to vote no to the mayors proposed changes and require that the moratorium be allowed to expire on Sept. 2.

Let the Mayor know that the focus should be on getting unpermitted owners to comply with the current ordinance and providing more accommodation choices instead of increasing regulation that will increase the cost of enforcement and only hurt small business owners.