Terry Gilmore says it pains him greatly knowing the vast majority of short-term rental operators in Wainfleet will face tough new rules due to a small minority of irresponsible owners who have created a situation in which neighbours are being tormented by wild party houses.
The Wainfleet township councillor and fellow council members, who dealt with a draft bylaw brought forward by staff Tuesday night to regulate short-term rentals (STRs), directed staff to add some tougher rules governing rentals and to report back later in the month with an updated draft bylaw.
Those restrictions range from exploring heftier fines and a strict no-visitor policy at STRs, to requiring rental property owners to have lived in their homes for a minimum amount of time before they can legally rent it out.
Council directed staff to add a minimum seven-day stay for STRs in the bylaw as suggested by Leone. At the suggestion of Coun. John MacLellan, council members also decided the bylaw should ban guests day or night at STRs, and require owners to have lived in the house for some time before they can get a licence to rent it out.
Coun. Sherri Van Vliet expressed concern the township doesn’t have the staff to enforce the no-visitor rule.
The majority of council also opted to limit the number of renters allowed to six people in three-bedroom units regardless of the size of the house. Mayor Brian Grant opposed that, saying it unfairly penalizes long-standing, responsible rental owners.
MacLellan said unfortunately responsible owners will get caught in the crossfire.
“We’re trying to legislate common sense,” he said. “It’s five per cent of the population causing problems and 95 per cent are not causing problems.”
Council members also agreed with Coun. Joan Anderson, who wanted staff to look at beefing up the fines in the draft bylaw. “I don’t believe they’re punitive enough,” she said. “If you pay $5,000 (fines) three or four times you’re possibly going to vet your clients a little closer or stop being a short-term rental person.”
The current and former Wainfleet council have been working for several years now to hammer out a final bylaw to control behaviour at STRs.
Community and development services manager Lindsay Earl said even if the revised bylaw gets passed later this month, it could take a few months to find a staff person to administer and enforce it. She said the majority of renters have already booked most of the summer season.