After some three years of work, township politicians have finally passed a new bylaw to regulate and license short-term rentals (STRs) in the bucolic township.
The new licensing system, which comes into effect for 2024, puts new limitations on STR operators such as how many people can be in the homes, now many bedrooms can be occupied and how often people can rent the homes.
The new system comes with financial penalties for STR operators who flout the rules and will include the addition of a new enforcement officer at town hall to make sure people play ball.
For Wainfleet Mayor Brian Grant, finalizing the bylaw comes with mixed feelings: he knows it’s badly needed to control the boorish behaviour of some out-of-towners bent on letting loose, but he feels some of the restrictions are overly onerous and could hurt responsible operators.
Council members met in a closed-door meeting with the township lawyer on July 6 for legal advice on the draft bylaw and directed staff to make revisions.
The finalized rules approved on July 18 require STR operators to have owned the property for two years, dictates that an STR only have one stay period within seven consecutive days, that only three bedrooms can be occupied, that only two people can stay per bedroom, and that the application fee for a licence is $1,000.
The two-year ownership clause doesn’t apply to STR owners who were operating before June 21, 2022.
The clause limiting rentals to one stay within a seven-day period doesn’t apply to bed-and-breakfast operations where the owner is staying at the time.