Quinte West staff will be putting together a detailed report and draft by-law to regulate short term accommodation properties in the city.
Council approved the idea to look at those properties, which include things like AirBnBs or any property that is rented for less than 30 days, at its virtual meeting on Monday night.
A preliminary report from Director of Planning Brian Jardine says that while tourism is a part of the city’s strategic plan there are some issues with STAs including “party houses”, impact to neighbours through traffic and noise, and the use of houses for tourism, instead of potential residency.
Jardine says the hope is to draft a by-law that balances the need to promote tourism in the city, with what’s best for the people who live here.
“Our aim would be to basically bring a set of regulations and zoning that while regulating and providing a platform for registration and collecting MAT tax, will also at the same time give us something that benefits our increasing tourism economy.”
His preliminary report notes that there are 74 active rentals in the city, 82% of those listed as “whole houses”, meaning the owner is not on site at the time of rental.
It goes on to suggest that a potential by-law could put limits on how many short term accommodations could be located in the city and would aim to help keep property owners accountable for their rental tenants.
It would also ensure that STA operators are collecting the 4% municipal accommodation tax which was put in place in 2019 and is split between city and the Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board.
Council was fully in support of the idea with many, including Councillor Lynda Reid, noting that protecting the residents of Quinte West should be one of the main objectives.
” I think that the main point is to ensure that the residential neighbourhoods are safe and not disturbed by some short term accommodation happening there. So we need to work to limit the impact it has on local residents.”
Reid says she also thinks it’s important that STAs be listed as the owner’s primary residence and they should be on site at the time of rental, to avoid any issues.
Some councillors questioned how new STAs would be monitored and Councillor Al DeWitt suggested that the current, well-operating owners, might be able to self-police the others, if there were problems.
Many councillors also agreed that every STA should have to register and nobody should be “grandfathered in” because they’re already operating.
Jardine said staff will also look at the possibility and costs of having an outside service handle the STA licensing process and that all of those details would come back in the draft by-law and report.
There was no set date on when that draft might be ready, but Jardine says when it is, there will be time for public consultation and input before it comes back to council for a final vote.
