More Restrictions Added to Short-Term Rental Bylaw

AirBnBs coming back to council this week.

After council decided to go back to the drawing board to finalize the details of the proposed Short-Term Rental (STR) bylaw, staff have now presented a new draft. Today I’ll highlight these changes. Although most changes are adding even more restrictions to STR operators, one notable change is removing a controversial idea.

Overall this bylaw will be one of the most restrictive short-term rental policies in the country. All STR operators I have spoken to have said they will cease operations if this policy comes into force putting the viability of West Nipissing’s tourism industry in serious jeopardy.

1. Strict limits for short-term rental operators

The proposed bylaw forces anyone who operates an AirBnB to get a licence but differentiates between Class A and Class B licenses. Class A licenses are for those who will rent out their primary home once in a while and Class B licences are for those who want to rent out a cabin or any other property that is not their principal dwelling.

In the Class B category, the city is making it next to impossible to operate and this will affect many small businesses.

First, they are limiting all licences to ONE per individual or corporation without any exceptions. This means that any business who was operating four or five cabins seasonally will now only be allowed to operate a single rental.

Next, they are going to prohibit any Class B licence within a 1KM radius of any other Class B licence. So if one person operates an AirBnB anywhere in the city, anyone on the same block will be prohibited from doing so. Indefinitely. The bylaw does not state how the city will handle two simultaneous application within a 1KM radius from each other.

Lastly, they city will only allow 100 Class B licenses.

2. No “Grandfathering”

In November council discussed various provisions to “grandfather” existing operators however no such provisions are included in the final draft.

This is a huge concern to property owners who have been operating in West Nipissing for years.

3. No trailers

The newest version of the bylaw prohibits any rentals of any trailers or “mobile accomodations”. Not even for a single night and not even if the trailer conforms to latest safety standards.

4. Fees

The fees to operate an STR have been set. The cost for a licence will be $750. Renewing this licence will then cost $250 per year.

5. Inspections

If an operator can qualify for a licence and get over the hefty fees to operate, they will then have to undergo an extensive inspection. The city has beefed up the inspection process for getting a licence. This inspection conducted by city representatives will look at every aspect of a dwelling from the safety equipment, walkways and refrigerators.

6. Code of Conduct - No singing allowed…

The new bylaw states that operators must provide a designated “code of conduct” to all their guests. The code of conduct drafted by city staff tells guests to refrain from all disturbances. Even signing is prohibited.

The code of conduct specifies that the municipal noise bylaw which restricts noises after 11PM is amended for STRs only. For STRs the noise bylaw (i.e. singing) is in effect 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

7. Excessive Fines

The most shocking part of this new bylaw is the fines the city is proposing. In their report to council, staff states that they are deliberately setting fines very high.

“Proposed set fines for offences under the By-Law have been deliberately set high so as to create a dis-incentive to operate without licensing. Fines are cumulative and are in addition to demerit points;” - WN Staff memo to council

If you get caught operating illegally or allowing your guests to sing (at any noise level) to Taylor Swift, then you will be fined $25,000 for the first offence. Fines go up to $50,000 for subsequent offences and the bylaw specifies that “each day a contravention occurs constitutes a new offence”. So, if you let any Swifties rent for the weekend make sure they do all their karaoke on Friday night and you will avoid $75,000 of penalties.

8. No restrictions on Provincially Significant Wetlands (PSW) Areas

In December, council had proposed adding a restriction to prohibit all STRs in provincially significant wetlands (PSWs). This was controversial as the only significant area with PSWs in West Nipissing was Mayor Kathleen Thorne-Rochon’s neighbourhood. Thorne-Rochon has personally advocated to restrict AirBnbs long before becoming mayor and many found that this bizarre restriction presented a conflict of interest on the matter.

The proposed bylaw being presented this week now removes this restrictions.

9. No AirBnB on Private Roads

The newest version of the bylaw adds so many new restrictions that it is hard to keep track. One such restriction was pointed out to me by an STR operator who says will affect many legitimate operators.

For some reason, the city had added a restriction making any STRs on privately maintained roads illegal. Particulary in West Nipissing’s where there are dozens of privately maintained roads, this restriction will block out many existing STR from operating legally.

This newest restriction also raises questions regarding the Mayor’s conflicts of interest. While the wetlands restrictions have been removed, this newest restriction may accomplish the same purpose as Thorne-Rochon appears to live on one of West Nipissing’s many privately maintained roads.

The West Nip Voice is a regular newsletter covering issues in West Nipissing and the surrounding area. Please consider becoming a subscribe.