St. Catharines bylaw officers will no longer scroll through Airbnb, VRBO and other websites to find local rules violators and will instead deal with properties when they get a complaint.
Mayor Mat Siscoe said the city’s short-term rental accommodation licensing bylaw has been “overly punitive” and put forth a motion on Monday that the city switch to a complaint-based system rather than proactive enforcement.
The bylaw, which requires short-term rental owners to get a licence and meet local operating requirements, is being reviewed by city staff at the request of city council after complaints from owners that the city was being too heavy-handed with its enforcement and fines.
The licensing system was originally created to deal with residents’ complaints about party houses that were causing noise, traffic, trash and other problems in neighbourhoods, particularly near Sunset Beach.
The bylaw was adopted in May 2021 after discussions in 2020 and went into effect on Jan. 2, 2022. Bed and breakfasts were added to the licensing system in April 2023.
Council at the time chose a proactive enforcement model for its new bylaw — described by some as the “Cadillac version” — that included more staff for enforcement who could search short-term rental websites for local listings in violation of city rules.
Owners have complained about excessive fines with no individual warnings, multiple fines for single properties and expensive building code requirements.
Siscoe said problem properties have largely been dealt with through the use of the bylaw, but other short-term rental owners for whom the bylaw was not intended are being caught up in it. He said a complaint-based system will be more in alignment with the original goal of the bylaw.
Siscoe said if staff are no longer going through websites looking for properties in violation of the bylaw, it should give them more time to deal with complaints.
Grantham Coun. Bill Phillips said the majority of short-term rental owners are compliant and do a good job, but it’s a small group that the city has had to deal with.
Councillors voted 11-1 in favour of the motion to move to a complaint-based system, with St. Patrick’s Coun. Caleb Ratzlaff the no vote.
Dan Skinner, who operates a short-term rental in downtown St. Catharines with his wife Anita, said on Tuesday that he appreciated that the mayor brought forth the motion and it passed.
The couple were fined $1,000 each for operating without a licence they said they didn’t know they needed and weren’t given a warning about. They appealed and had it reduced to $1,000, but had to stop renting until they had all the paperwork approved for the licence.
Skinner said a complaint-based system will be good for people who are looking to start up a short-term rental. It will also give those who are already operating but haven’t done everything they need to do a chance to come forward without fear of retribution.