Frustrated White Point Estates residents want Queens to crack down on Airbnbs

Imagine feeling like your neighbourhood has been turned into a party zone.

That’s what John Rogers says it’s like to live in White Point Estates, near Liverpool.

And he blames the Region of Queens for letting it happen.

He says the municipality’s zoning rules are essentially overriding property covenants that forbid short-term rentals like Airbnbs from operating in his subdivision.

“These houses are purpose-built for partying basically,” Rogers recently told QCCR in an interview.

“In the summertime, it’s like living in a campground. … It’s just people coming in and out every weekend.

“It’s frustrating. It’s disappointing. We’re being denied the right to enjoy our own property because council believes it’s better to give the rights to people who don’t live here and let them make money on their property.”

The Nova Scotia government requires short-term rentals to be registered with the province. To get that registration, property owners have to prove that land use bylaws in their municipality allow them to operate their house as an Airbnb.

In Queens, White Point Estates is in the “resort” zone, which allows short-term rentals. 

“My neighbour’s 50 feet from me, and it’s an Airbnb, I can hear them all day, all night,” Rogers says.

“One group of renters lit a house on fire so we had fire trucks and all that wailing through the night. We’ve had fireworks when they’re not allowed to have fireworks. We’ve had full-out weddings in places, so the streets have been blocked with cars, traffic, you can’t get by. 

“We have a lot of nosy renters who feel like they could just walk on other people’s property, so I’ve had people on my property filming my house. I’ve had people come into my driveway and do exercises because my driveway’s paved so they feel like, ‘Oh we can go in there and do jumping jacks and pushups.’

“So it’s a lot of nuisance and just the fact that 30 per cent of your neighbours change every weekend, … and you get new neighbours the following week and you don’t know who they are.” 

When somebody buys a property in White Point Estates, they must agree to a list of 14 restrictive covenants on what they can do with the land. The first rule states that only one single-family dwelling is allowed. That structure must be used only for residential purposes, and property owners cannot do anything that creates a nuisance for their neighbours.

Rogers says he and his wife bought the land and built their house five years ago partly because of those rules.

But he says that because municipal bylaws allow short-term rentals in White Point Estates, about a third of the subdivision’s property owners are ignoring those covenants and using their houses as Airbnbs. He said the problem has only gotten worse in the past five years.

He says it’s too expensive to take all those property owners — he estimates there are about 15 or 16 rentals in White Point Estates — to court.

He says some of the properties sleep up to 10 people and aren’t even owned by residents, but by companies based in Ontario or other parts of Nova Scotia.

“The only remedy is to change the bylaw in the zone to reflect the covenants, which is to not allow short-term rentals to operate within that zone. And it’s a small zone, so we’re contained to three streets. We’re not asking them to change the rules of the county. We’re just asking them to abide by the rules in our zone, which is our subdivision.”

Rogers and some of his neighbours met with Mayor Scott Christian and District 1 Coun. Roberta Roy in July.

Christian told QCCR he understands residents’ frustration, but he said there can’t be a quick fix.

“I don’t think it would be appropriate for us to make a hasty decision about short-term rentals as it pertains to the resort zone and not take a bigger-picture look at how we’re handling short-term rentals across Queens County.”

Municipal councillors voted in December to review the region’s land use bylaw and municipal planning strategy. One of the things they want to look at is regulation of short-term rentals.

That process could take a year or more.

“I can understand and appreciate their frustrations,” Christian says, “but I do think that the way that council is going about it, the handling of it is appropriate that we do our homework and look at it with a big-picture mindset so that we land on an equitable and appropriate approach for all of Queens County.”

Councillors voted to change the land use rules in November to allow a developer to turn the old Stedman’s building on Main Street in Liverpool into apartments.

Christian said that change affected only the downtown commercial zone. Outlawing short-term rentals in White Point Estates would have bigger implications.

“Short-term rental properties are prevalent throughout all of Queens County. Not just in south Queens and not just in the White Point Estates. So this is a really complex one.”

In the meantime, residents like John Rogers will continue to press regional council to make a change so that they can enjoy their homes again.

“You know, this isn’t about me. I’m not on some glorious campaign. I’m challenging council to do the right thing. And I don’t believe council should be bestowing rights on people who don’t live in the county and trash on the rights of the people who do.

“Defend the rights of the people who live here and pay taxes here and vote here. That would be the right thing to do.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com