Grey Highlands resident Ian Cameron says he has had enough of the nonsense created by the short-term accommodations (STA) that now surround his home in Kimberly.
“Every time a car drives up our street, we hold our breath, we get a knot in our stomachs, and we whisper, 'Oh no, is this the next carload of rabble-rousers coming to tear up our weekend?'” said Cameron in a deputation to council at a meeting held Sept. 2.
“We hesitate to invite friends and family for fear they will be subject to all-night parties and loud music, hooting and hollering and drunken misconduct. We are now questioning whether we can retire in this neighbourhood,” he continued.
Cameron has been living at his property in Boathouse Court in Kimberly for the past eight years. He says most of the properties in his neighbourhood are now being used as revenue-generating STAs.
“I am not a lawyer. But, I have to believe that if I owned a business in Grey Highlands, say a tavern, and my customers were breaking the law on a regular basis, and I did nothing to dissuade them – and, in fact, took action to encourage them, as one could argue that these property owners do – I would not only get a warning and a fine, I would be shut down,” Cameron said.
Grey Highlands council and staff have been actively working towards getting control of STAs in the municipality, even passing the Grey Highlands STA bylaw in November.
Michele Harris, director of community and economic development for Grey Highlands, says the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the issue.
“I thought about last summer and we did not have a licensing program in effect. And yes, we had some complaints, but this has been incredibly exacerbated because of COVID,” Harris said. “Just from the number of emails I am receiving, it has been at least 10 times the amount that I received last summer.”
The municipality’s STA bylaw outlines a licensing program, which has a number of requirements for STA operators, including maintaining compliance with the municipal bylaws – noise control, property standards, fire code, building code – as well as provincial or federal laws and the Ontario fire code.
The program notes a licence will not be given to any premises that indicates more than two guests per room, or with a maximum of 10 guests per property.
For an STA that is hosted, meaning the establishment has an owner/operator living full-time on-site during the rental period, an annual STA licence will be provided at no cost.
An unhosted STA, which does not have an owner/operator living full-time on-site during the rental period, will be charged an annual fee of $300 for the STA licence.
“I don't want to paint all of our operators with the same brush because there are many that are doing an exemplary job,” said Harris. “We generally haven't heard any complaints or problems with the hosted properties, which, in traditional language, would be considered a bed and breakfast. It is the absentee-owner properties that are causing trouble.”
Outlined in the bylaw, the penalty for operating without a licence is $1,000 a week.
The program also details a demerit point system. For every confirmed bylaw violation, a demerit point will be assessed to that property.
Demerits will remain on file for three years. If a property reaches three demerit points, its license will be revoked for a year.
According to the bylaw, any of the following violations can constitute a demerit point being issued:
- Late evening noise and neighbourhood disturbances after 10 p.m.
- Excessive noise at any time
- Parking of vehicles off the licenced property
- Improper snow storage
- Overcrowding of the property
- Outdoor burn restrictions
- Other disturbances that are deemed problematic to the peaceful enjoyment of one’s residence or accommodation.
“What the program is trying to help avoid is people who are buying up multiple properties and using them as a business, which has a lot of implications,” said Harris. “It also has a significant impact on housing stock in communities.”
Following the approval of the bylaw, the municipality committed to a one-year contract with the third-party compliance agency, Harmari, in January.
Harmari (LTAS Technologies), is a short-term rental compliance service company that offers a software program to track STAs through advertising and classifieds. It is capable of collecting full case history; compliance notes; violation reports that can integrate noise, permitting, and maximum guests violations; a registration portal; a 24/7 compliance tip line; and incident reports.
The municipality was ready to launch its new STA program when COVID-19 hit, sidetracking the program’s progress.
In mid-May the municipality was able to launch the STA licensing program, which offered a voluntary registration process with no deadline.
However, municipal staff say with no deadline attached, STA operators have not been registering on their own.
“It's a very complex issue. But with this loophole right now we have no teeth for there to be any consequences for people who are perhaps not abiding by the intent and the integrity of what we want to be respectful communities,” Harris said.
She adds that if the municipality receives a complaint about an STA that is unregistered, there is no way to enforce any of the bylaw requirements or issue and track demerit points.
“It is time to hold these STA property owners responsible,” Cameron pleaded with council members.
Following Cameron’s deputation, Grey Highlands council passed an amendment to the STA bylaw.
Under the new amendments, STA property owners are required to submit an application and fulfil all licencing requirements within 45 days of written notification by the municipality.
Verified complaints registered against STA properties will be considered and tracked as part of the licencing demerit tracking system.
The municipality has also reserved the right to deny a licencing application for any unlicensed property that has received three verified complaints under the demerit tracking system.
“Moving forward, we will be trying to get this right. But globally, organizations are struggling on how to deal with this contentious issue,” Harris said. “I feel for Mr. Cameron and I feel for the number of people who have spoken to this before. By creating some hard deadlines by which people have to comply, I think it will help alleviate some of the challenges we're currently having.”
