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Comment by monkeynotes | Hacker News Reader

I have somewhat of a 'not in my backyard' opinion of Airbnb. I have admittedly used the service multiple times, but since I moved into a new house I've changed my view on the business model.

Our neighbour Airbnbs multiple rooms in his house full time. He barely has parking for 3 cars, 2 cars if you don't want to be boxed in. However he rents out room for 6 people. He constantly has business moving through his house, occasionally his guests encroach on our driveway which is adjacent to his.

The city has not been able to catch up with the modern world and has no policy or licensing for Airbnb style businesses.

The pandemic has had zero impact on his ability to rent out rooms, it's always full.

TLDNR: I wish I had a neighbour and not a business next to me in a residentially zoned street.

/rant

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Using AirBnB sometimes doesn't automatically make you a NIMBY, IMO. If an ordinary family of four stays in a secluded single family home for a weekend, that's not really the incarnation of AirBnB that many people have a problem with. It's the modern flophouse in the middle of a regular neighborhood that is really driving problems.

Have you looked into reporting a zoning violation? The operation may violate existing laws relating to rental permitting or commercial use.

We've called the city and consulted with a friend who worked in planning. Basically they said they have no structure of vetting and dealing with Airbnb. I don't think it's even on their agenda.

Have you tried talking to your neighbour about the issue or adding a small A4 print saying "No Parking"?

In my country the city is playing catchup on policy level.

Currently you can only allow 30 days of AirBnB for a property.

Over here the demand for AirBnB is pretty much non existant now, though. The Coronavirus lockdown has put an end to all travel and tourism for now. Many properties are now returning to normal, long term rental units.

I think the important distinction is the side effects of having a neighbor that rents out on AirBnB. In your case it's "occasionally his guests encroach on our driveway which is adjacent to his" which I think is unacceptable. I have rented ~10 AirBnB's with friends over the years and in every case we either flew into the location and used Uber/Lyft to get around or carpooled there resulting in us only using the allowed number of parking spaces.

A family or group of people occupying a residence that would be occupied by a similarly size group is not a problem in my mind. It's only when there is noise at all hours, trash left around the property or on yours, or parking in your parking area that I would really start to mind.

Maybe that's easy for me to say as someone who doesn't (that I know of) live near someone who rents out on AirBnB. That said, I do live next to 1 house that has ~6 (I honestly can't be sure) people that live there (all adults) and on the other side have a house that is often vacant and the owners have their parents live there sometimes I think and none of that bothers me. That's mainly because they keep to themselves, don't make lots of noise, leave trash laying around, or take up extra parking. So knowing all that I don't think I'd mind an AirBnB as long as all those factors didn't change.

I'd like an actual neighbour, not rotating guests who never get to know you. Half the year the owner lives in abroad and when he's gone the guests don't know how to put trash out, don't plow snow, don't know where to park etc.

It's these small things that chip away at the otherwise close-nit neighbourhood.

Have a chat with the owner and failing that see if you can setup a clamping company and do a deal with one to clamp anybody that encroaches on your property. May as well make some money from it.

Already spoken to him. He has converted an out building into another dwelling and promised he would not add more guests. He deceived us by saying he wouldn't, and then moved into his outbuilding and freed up space in the house. Up to 10 guests can now stay at his house.

Their cars partly block your driveway? Do they make a lot of noise? What are the other impacts on you?

Cars do not block our driveway, they just take up space. This happens especially when the owner does not plow snow on his driveway. Guests basically cannot park on his driveway.

Noise is not a problem, fortunately.

What needs to happen is to realize this before your neighbour started his Airbnb business.

And how exactly do you do that when an existing neighbour can start his business after the fact?

By putting oneself in other people's shoes.

I don't really see how this bothers you. If they're parking on your driveway, just call a tow truck. If they're on the street, you're SOL unless you can pitch the city to make your street "residential parking only" with decals (but this is no different from your neighbour just owning 8 cars and street parking them).

I'd have to put up a sign notifying cars will be towed. I simply don't want to have to deal with the problem. Why should I have to deal with this in a residential neighbourhood where my expectation is to have an actual neighbour who understands his property line?

Putting the onus on me to deal with his guests is a problem that bothers me in of itself.

If you had the same situation I am sure you'd grow tired of it pretty quick.

Is this fundamentally different than your next door neighbor replacing their SFH with a 4 story apartment building? One could say Airbnb rentals are based on want and traditional rental housing is based on need, but the residents of the theoretical apartment building don’t “need” to live on your street.

> Is this fundamentally different than your next door neighbor replacing their SFH with a 4 story apartment building?

Yes, with actual long-term neighbours I only have to tell them once where the property line is and how to deal with trash pickup. Also there is zoning and bylaws regulating multiple occupancy homes, and I can look that up before purchasing my house.

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