You have a chance to comment on plans for Airbnb bylaws

Council holding public session Tuesday evening to get more feedback

The Spaulding Guesthouse on Front St. is one of many places on Airbnb.

You may have stayed in an Airbnb and enjoyed the time away from home, but few of us would be keen to live next door to one that attracts renters who enjoy the space too much and too loudly.

Just how few of us in Trent Hills feel that way is a question that council is trying to get a handle on as it develops bylaws aimed at balancing the need for long-term rentals, the desire of some owners to rent out their homes, or cottages, the economic need to attract tourists to the area, and related complaints about noise and overcrowding.

Two years ago, council asked staff to develop a bylaw that would encourage short-term rentals while protecting neighbours from noise and nuisance. Then, last year the province decreed that municipalities must do everything they can to increase the supply of rental properties and encourage home building.

So, council shifted gears and asked staff to develop bylaws that follow the provincial decree and encourage long-term rentals. It is currently looking at updating the existing bed and breakfast bylaw and a proposed nuisance bylaw.

The next phase in council’s listening to the disparate views of residents and owners will take place on Tuesday in a public hearing that starts at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at the Emergency Services Base. The hearing will also be available online through the municipality’s streaming site or YouTube channel.

The three written submissions attached to the meeting’s agenda give a good sense of the various views on the topic.  One is from a cottage owner on the Trent who says he’s rented to 120 families over the past three years with few complaints. A second is from homeowners who had an active Airbnb operating next door, but happily for them it shut down after they complained for years about the noise and other issues, and now the home is rented long-term. The third submission comes from Windswept which owns several bed-and-breakfasts and rental cottage properties and fears restrictions may make it harder for guests to book a vacation.

The hearing will receive public feedback and incorporate it into a report from staff, the municipality says. It underlined this sentence:  No decision will be made during this meeting.  It is encouraging written comments, via email or on paper, either before the meeting or after. You can email comments to planning@trenthills.ca within seven days of the meeting to have them considered in the final report to council.

Jeff Collard wrote that he has owned a cottage on Westview Rd. in Hastings “for the past three years and have been renting it out as a short-term rental during that time.”

“Has Trent Hills done an economic impact assessment of the proposed changes?” he asked. “In the three years I have had my cottage, I have rented it to over 120 families. These families have come to Trent Hills and spent their vacation money in the surrounding villages and small businesses of Hastings, Campbellford and more. If these families can no longer rent my cottage, where will they go? The hotels and cottage resorts in the area are booked up a year in advance and do not have space to accommodate these people.”

Collard asked how many rental properties could be converted to long-term rental, noting that his cottage could not since it is not insulated, only has a holding tank, and is on a road that is not plowed.

“Of the 120 guests I have hosted at our cottage, only one of them ended up having a party and causing a disturbance,” he wrote. “That means that in three years, 99.2% of my rentals have had absolutely no issues. The truth is, the vast majority of my guests are respectful, law abiding, young families that simply want to enjoy a quiet getaway.”

On the other hand, Stephanie Lundy and Greg Famme, owners of a house on Marine Drive in Hastings, said they endured “chaos, excessive noise, trespassing, hazards, and much more” when a neighbouring property was rented as an Airbnb.

“None of the problems were ever addressed by the property owner, who rarely attended the property for more than a couple of hours at a time and lives over two hours away.  Fortunately, after multiple years of enduring endless issues, the owner of that property was issued a cease-and-desist notice from the staff of the municipality.

“We are very pleased to report that after the notice was issued, the owner ceased operating the property as an Airbnb and it became part of the local housing inventory and was eventually rented out as a long-term rental.”

In their submission, Lundy and Famme said they support responsible tourism that doesn’t put pressure on residents. But they also asked about potential conflicts of interest by council members or their families who may have properties they rent out short term.

Were owners notified?

Kimberly Hulsman, marketing manager at Windswept, raised a number of questions in her submission. She asked how owners were notified about this meeting and whether there was any attempt to alert those who do not live in the area.

“If a cottage property has not generated complaints and the municipality has technically allowed these properties to operate for years, why are they not grandfathered in?” she asked.

Hulsman also asked if staff had determined how many short-term rentals currently exist and what their economic impact is on the community.

FYI, I did quick search on Airbnb, which is just one of the short-term rental sites, and found 160 places available in mid-June.

“The rentals of weekly cottages are often booked a year in advance,” Hulsman noted. “Are all these property owners going to have to cancel their bookings and cancel vacations of families that have rented in the area for years?”

She asked how many complaints the municipality has received and how they have been dealt with in the past, wondering if the property owners were always notified.