Now that the town has the tools in place to properly regulate them, council voted to lift the limit on the number of short-term rental (STR) licences it issues and will instead allow the market to decide when enough is enough.
As council dealt with what was essentially a housekeeping item, Coun. Tom Lewis introduced a motion to do away with the licence cap of 250 per year.
Lewis said he understood why the previous council put the cap in place: the town was dealing with a high number of complaints and did not have the proper mechanisms in place.
Council earlier this year approved official plan and zoning bylaw amendments to permit standalone STRs in certain areas of town. These include commercial areas, the R2B zone in Crystal Beach, core mixed-use areas and the residential waterfront area in the west end.
Homeowners are also allowed to operate STRs within their own home.
Council’s decision was appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal; however that was dismissed once Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024, received royal assent. Among other things, the act states individuals filing an appeal must either be the applicant (in most case this would be the developer) or own land affected by the decision.
Lewis said the 250 per year limit was “arbitrary.” He also said while total buy in was not possible, the town has done its due diligence in consulting with all the stakeholders.
Lewis’s motion followed a delegation from resident David McPherson who argued against STRs in principle and said they had a negative effect on housing supply. He said there’s few, if any, data-based arguments pointing to community benefits to STRs.
Mayor Wayne Redekop, while conceding the cap might be low, was not prepared to have none at all. He said while there are benefits to STRs, they are outweighed by negative impacts, including the effect on housing. “They do take houses out of the market for people to live in on a full-time basis,” he said. “You can’t get around that.”
Coun. George McDermott, meanwhile, said the issue was a matter of property rights. “If I own a home, I think it’s my prerogative what I do with it,” he said.
Lewis’s motion was carried, with a call for a recorded vote deemed out of order for council in committee.
The report also outlined how owners of standalone properties outside the approved zones might seek an application and determined it would best be done through a minor variance that is dealt with at the committee of adjustment.