AirBnb and other short-term accommodations (STA) will soon be regulated in Orillia.
Though council still needs to pass a bylaw enacting the regiment at a later meeting, some of the suggested regulations are as follows:
- Requiring STA owners to acquire a business licence, at $2,000 per year;
- Implementing a demerit point system for non-compliance with regulations, which will suspend licenses at seven demerit points and revoke them at 15;
- Prohibiting STAs from operating within 100 metres of one another;
- Requiring a “responsible person” to be available 24/7 to address issues and complaints regarding STAs;
- Prohibiting more than two guests in a bedroom, or more than ten in any STA, between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.; and
- Formally defining an STA as a building, or part of a building, rented for less than 28 consecutive days throughout the year
In a report to council, city staff stated there were 115 STAs in Orillia as of January 2023, accounting for roughly 1% of the properties in the city.
Should each STA pursue a license, $230,000 in potential annual revenue could be generated for the city.
The city consulted numerous municipalities, ranging in population from 12,000 to 50,000, to learn what regulations they had applied to STAs, with the report noting that most municipalities enacted regulations in response to “significant” issues relating to STAs.
Between 2017 and 2019, however, the city received only eight complaints about STAs, and five complaints over the course of 2022.
Coun. David Campbell said that although the current statistics do not justify imposing regulations, he believes – after discussions with residents – a large number of STA issues go unreported.