Concerns about STRs in Bluewater have continued to be a topic of debate throughout this council’s term, specifically with a focus on the Bayfield and lakeshore areas as they attract tourists from other areas such as Toronto and London.
As of Oct. 13, more than 100 STRs were listed in the Bayfield and lakeshore areas on the popular rental site Airbnb.
But if the proposed draft bylaw were to be passed by council, it would limit the number of STRs allowed to operate within each ward of Bluewater to 5% of dwellings, or 39 dwellings per ward.
The proposed licensing system would require STR operators to pay an application fee and would include a new demerit point system, providing a framework to allow the municipality to revoke a license or fine owners as much as $10,000 for offences.
Though no exact licensing fee was included in the draft bylaw, municipal staff have previously estimated a license could cost up to $500 for each application.
The bylaw would also include parking space requirements tied to the number of renters occupying the property and would set a maximum occupancy of eight guests per STR (two per bedroom).
Under the proposed bylaw, an appeals committee, which is appointed by council, would be available to hear grievances and make decisions about issues such as license revocations.
In an attempt to ensure issues regarding STRs are quickly solvable, the draft bylaw also establishes a requirement for a ‘responsible person’ to be available within 30 minutes of being contacted to address any issues that arise. The ‘responsible person’ can be the STR operator, or an individual acting on their behalf.
Complaints from residents about STRs have mainly focused on noise, parking, pets, trespassing and fires. From 2014-2019, Bluewater saw an average of 1.8 noise complaints annually. In 2020, nine noise complaints were handled by bylaw officers.
The municipality began tracking whether issues involved STRs in 2021, and that year saw 25 noise complaints, four of which were related to STRs.
In 2022 so far, 18 noise complaints have been received by the municipality, with nine of those relating to individual STRs.
The proposed draft bylaw, which would establish a licensing system for STRs in Bluewater, is available to be viewed by the public at bluewater.civicweb.net under the Oct. 12 public meeting’s agenda.