The Municipal Government of Prince Edward seeks to impose new regulations on short-term (vacation) rentals that will be damaging to tourism, jobs and property values.

The municipality should withdraw the proposed legislation, and assemble a task force including stakeholders before tabling any further proposals.

It is in the best interests of all residents of the County to retract these proposed bylaws.  

Short-term accommodations attract tourist dollars, contribute to the restoration of our communities, boost property values and provide jobs.  If we want to have a community, we need to have an economy.

The proposed laws are unfair and needlessly destructive to rental owners as well as tourism in general.  These bylaws would also be very damaging to property values for all homeowners in the County regardless of any direct stake.

Protecting tourism is protecting our entire community.  Many of us rely directly on tourism for our businesses and our jobs, and those who don’t rely on tourism directly still enjoy the many services, activities, restaurants, wineries and shops that are available only because of the huge economic benefits of tourism.  

Protecting property value defends our most important investments.  It encourages construction of new homes which mitigates housing shortages, and it encourages renovation and restoration of run-down homes and properties, which makes the County beautiful. These things benefit every resident of Prince Edward County.

We therefore call upon the Municipality of Prince Edward to retract the proposed bylaws to to exercise caution and restraint in the consideration of any future proposals.