Charlottetown city council is considering creating a bylaw that would allow limited car rentals on the waterfront.

The Mi'kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I. already has permission to run a car rental agency in its planned new friendship centre.

"The issue on the waterfront is land is very scarce — it's aesthestically pleasing down there and we want to keep it that way," said Alex Forbes, Charlottetown's manager of planning and heritage.

"But the reality is most of the people looking to rent a vehicle are either coming from the cruise ships ... as well as at the hotel."

Now, the city has received a request for a small car rental agency to be set up at the Delta Hotel — the hotel had housed a rental operation in the past, but zoning rules on the waterfront have since changed, Forbes said, and it's no longer permitted. There was also a car rental agency in Founder's Hall, Forbes noted.

Monday night Forbes city councillors he'd recommend allowing rental agencies with 10 cars or fewer.