Notorious ‘party house’ in Burlington has been shut down
Published November 7, 2019 at 1:32 pm
Some residents of downtown Burlington have been screaming for relief from what was being called the Airbnb “party house” on Lakeshore Dr.
Some residents of downtown Burlington have been screaming for relief from what was being called the Airbnb “party house” on Lakeshore Dr.
Now, at least for the next few months, those residents will be able to sleep a little easier as the Burlington “party house” has been banned by Airbnb for 90 days.
The co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, announced that the company is banning “party houses” and would be “redoubling its efforts to combat unauthorized parties and remove abusive host and guests conducts”.
Starting today, we are banning “party houses” and we are redoubling our efforts to combat unauthorized parties and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct, including conduct that leads to the terrible events we saw in Orinda. Here is what we are doing:
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) November 2, 2019
Part of the new initiative from Airbnb is a new website tool where concerned neighbours can report a nuisance rental home.
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“This is good news for the local residents living near this location and provides some relief for a short time while the City works on a more permanent bylaw, scheduled to come back to committee in mid-2020,” said Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward. “As I have stated before, I have no issues with Airbnbs that operate as they are intended — they are not intended to replace conference centres or event venues”.
“The problem lies with Airbnbs that masquerade as an event venue or large party. The locations are not set up for that, or the resulting noise, fire and safety hazards. This ends up being an abuse of what Airbnbs are intended for.”
Concerned Burlington residents have been appearing before council in regards to the rogue Lakeshore home; leading to the Oct. 28 approval of a report from staff on short-term accommodations. The report, brought forward by Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte, included a staff direction to the Executive Director of Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility to report back in May 2020 with a short-term accommodation licensing bylaw.
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