Short-term rentals have stopped being a hot-button topic in North Simcoe, but they still continue and an annual Penetanguishene report on them was well received by council.
At the recent committee of the whole meeting, a report on the 2024 short-term rental season from May through September was presented with non-compliance being nearly eliminated from the year prior.
The report summarized licensing, generated revenue, enforcement, administrative monetary penalties and more regarding the town’s short-term rental licensing bylaw.
A 2021 staff report noted 78 active listings on rental sites within Penetanguishene, but by 2023 when bylaws were enacted only 18 short-term rental properties were licensed; in 2024, that number rose to 20 licensed properties.
Administrative monetary penalties from the non-compliant properties in 2023 was estimated to gain $20,000 to the town but resulted instead for $45,500 in revenue; in 2024 another $20,000 was estimated, but only achieved an actual year-to-date of $14,100.
As a result of revenue from application fees but tempered by the cost of a short-term licensing officer, Penetanguishene took in nearly $39,000 from the short-term rental licensing bylaw in 2023, but an actual year-to-date in 2024 of over $26,000.
The report also stated that 23 received complaints to the Granicus tip submission hotline focused on six properties; these resulted in roughly one-third of complaints leading to ceasing operations and over a quarter of complaints resulting in administrative monetary penalties.
Mayor Doug Rawson spoke at the meeting on the town being complimented for their short-term rental program by peers at the county level.
In October, Penetanguishene was listed across the country by AirBnb as a ‘trending destination’ for short-term rentals.