Hi all, I just wanted to reach out to let you know that even after last year's victory, thanks to the 532 signatures collected, the Mayor and four City Council members are at it again.

Another moratorium on new short-term rentals (aka AirBnB's) was put in place at an emergency meeting in June while the City Officials attempt once again to implement a proposed new ordinance on short-term rentals. Meanwhile, Code Enforcement continues to do nothing to enforce the current ordinance. Thankfully, local residents continue to invest their personal assets into improving neglected properties throughout the city so that they can provide safe and comfortable places for tourists to stay.

Last year one City Council member, who listened to his constituents, and thanks to the requirement for a unanimous City Council vote after the County and City Planning boards disapproval, the Mayors proposed Short Term rental ordinance was not implemented.

Now the City Council has proposed changing the City's Charter to no longer require a unanimous vote whenever the Planning Board does not approve zoning ordinance changes.

This change to the City Charter must be approved by the Planning board who will be meeting to discuss it Wednesday, July 14th at a public hearing. Unfortunately, the Mayor has replaced the prior Planning Board so let's make sure this new board understands that the community and tourists want to support tourism in Niagara Falls via short-term rentals (aka AirBnB's). Here's a quick reminder of the facts -

1- Niagara Falls is short 4,000-8,000 hotel rooms a day during peak season and more than ever before tourists prefer renting homes over hotels. Millions of dollars are not being spent in Niagara Falls because tourists have to go elsewhere because they have no place to stay. 

2 - The Mayor has once again proposed a new ordinance that is in conflict with the cities comprehensive plan due to the lack of transparency, community engagement, and once again the attempt to restrict short-term rentals to a downtown zone. It stomps on free enterprise, risks gentrification, and puts the Niagara Falls brand at risk due to the blight that's resulted from decades of neglect in public infrastructure and city-owned property. Here's a video that shows this in more detail.

3 - There has been no evidence of short-term rental complaints provided that warrant the finite resources of the city being spent on what to date has been a non-issue. A FOIL request filed a year ago asking for police or code enforcement complaints on short-term rentals still remains unfulfilled, which is in violation of FOIA law. Additionally, long-term rentals, crime, and public infrastructure investment are what the community has pleaded with the city officials to prioritize first. Here's video from the May 26th City Council meeting as evidence of the Mayor's unwillingness to listen to the community and instead continue to foster the decades of systemic racism that impact the residents of Niagara Falls and holds the city back. 

Will you help me to get more support by sharing this petition with ten other people? If enough of us sign we can’t be ignored! Here’s a link to share https://www.change.org/p/mayor-robert-restaino-niagara-falls-keep-the-short-term-rental-ordinance-and-lift-the-moratorium