The Harrison Park True Neighbours Alliance is a not-for-profit organization expressing the concerns of residents with a common voice to help the Municipality of Harrison Park address the problem of short-term rentals in the residential general zone.

Short-term rentals are not new, but online platforms like Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway have facilitated their proliferation around the world. What started out as renting an air mattress on the floor of a living room as a bed and breakfast has expanded to entire homes and apartments, private rooms and other properties. The negative impact to residents, neighbourhoods, and communities varies from removing available and affordable rental properties and homes to the numerous “quality of life” effects on the residents. “While current Airbnb activity is concentrated in major cities, active listings, total revenue, hosts with multiple listings, and frequently rented entire-home listings are all growing at higher rates in small towns and rural areas.” (Combs, Kerrigan, and Wachsmuth 2019)

STRs run counter to the intention of zoning by allowing residential properties to service the needs of visitors rather than residents. (Griffiths 2017) Other municipalities/cities around the world have tried to regulate the industry with minimal success. There is little compliance by the owners and jurisdictions do not have the financial and/or administrative resources for enforcement. In the end, the problems created by short-term rentals in residential zones still exists. Zoning bylaws are in place to protect residents and neighbourhoods from incompatible uses. STRs are a not-permitted use in the residential general zone and should be enforced as such.

The volunteers who make up the True Neighbours Alliance are property owners of Harrison Park who understand the impact of STRs. They have heard the fear and the resentment in the voices of their fellow ratepayer home owners and have decided to speak out. You can find a list of the volunteers on the Contact Us page. To help you better understand what we have come to know, please read the letters of support found here.