The journey to find a solution to the short-term rental issue in Oro-Medonte Township has been long, divisive and expensive.
When it will be resolved is anybody’s guess, but the township is slowly inching toward what it hopes will be a final conclusion.
At Wednesday’s council meeting, George Vadeboncoeur, the township’s manager, planning special projects, delivered his report regarding public comments and recommendations on draft short-term rental accommodation and bed-and-breakfast establishments licensing bylaw for council’s consideration.
The draft was prepared by Paul Dray and Associates with input from staff through the consideration of existing licensing bylaws from other municipalities.
“The intent of the licensing bylaw is to license legal short-term rental accommodations (STRAs) and bed-and-breakfast accommodation establishments (B&Bs) within the township,” Vadeboncoeur wrote in his report. “For a use to be deemed legal, it must be permitted under the township zoning bylaw.
“STRAs and B&Bs that do not have appropriate zoning in place are deemed to be illegal,” he added.
Vadeboncoeur said the licensing bylaw aims to protect renters’ health and safety by enforcing life-safety and property standards matters on STRAs and B&Bs and to minimize neighbourhood nuisances.
He also said dedicated STRAs are only permitted within the following areas: Horseshoe Resort Condos and The Carriage Hills and Carriage Ridge developments.
Bed-and-breakfast uses are permitted in the agricultural/rural or private recreation zones. They are permitted elsewhere by exception through an approved site-specific zoning bylaw amendment that individual property owners must apply for.
“The draft licensing bylaw was crafted using the sections under the Municipal Act that enable a municipality to prohibit a business from operating without a licence across the entire municipality, refuse to grant or revoke a licence and impose conditions on a licence holder,” Vadeboncoeur said. “The format of the draft is very similar to the sample licensing bylaws staff reviewed.”
Since 2018, the township, according to Mayor Randy Greenlaw, has spent more than $1 million on the issue and has launched numerous attempts to regulate short-term rental accommodations, with little success to implement a clear policy directive.
At its Jan. 22 meeting, council gave direction to staff to prepare a draft STRA and B&B licensing bylaw for consideration.
A month later, on Feb. 26, council tabled the draft bylaw for public input.
On March 24, the township held a public consultation meeting at the Oro-Medonte Community Arena that attracted about 60 township residents who expressed a wide variety of concerns — from what constitutes a legal STRA in the township to how much will the fines be for illegal operators.
Additionally, the township hosted an online portal until April 17 where residents could leave comments regarding STRAs and B&Bs.
He noted there were five main topics of concern:
- licensing bylaw
- fees and costs
- reporting complaints and penalties
- health and safety
- land use and zoning
Surprisingly, a number of township farmers commented, saying they occasionally rent surplus farm dwellings as STRAs to support their farm operations.
They said seasonal workers stay in them and sometimes they rent them out to tourists who are looking for a “farm” experience.
Vadeboncoeur said the farmers view them as an “agriculture-related use” or an “on-farm diversified use.”
They suggested they be permitted as of right on rural properties.
According to Vadeboncoeur’s report, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture said on-farm diversified uses are identified in the Provincial Planning Statement (PPS) as one of three categories of uses permitted in Ontario’s prime agricultural areas: related to agriculture, supportive of agriculture, or able to co-exist with agriculture as the primary use in agricultural areas.
While on-farm diversified uses cover a broad range of business types, Vadeboncoeur said they must meet all five policy criteria specified in the PPS:
- the use must be located on a farm
- secondary to the principal agricultural use
- limited in area
- compatible with and not hinder surrounding agricultural operations
- and may include home occupations, home industries, agri-tourism, and value-added uses.
According to Vadeboncoeur, under the guidelines, almost any proposal may qualify as an on-farm diversified use.
“The farmers that spoke to staff were not opposed to licensing, but were of the view that STRAs in the rural area should be permitted as a secondary use for properties zoned agricultural/rural as they are part of their farming operation,” Vadeboncoeur said.
Vadeboncoeur said staff will make some changes to the document based on resident feedback and will bring the draft back for council’s review in July.