With the rise in short-term rentals in the area, which sometimes results in less-than-desirable behaviour by renters of those properties, as well as an increase in infractions relating to fireworks, Huntsville councillors have been hearing an increasingly common refrain: Where’s bylaw?
At issue is a municipal bylaw department that doesn’t have the resources to attend to some calls quickly, or to respond at all after hours, while demand for their services continues to increase.
That had councillors discussing the need for more funding to deal with bylaw enforcement.
Councillor Jonathan Wiebe broached the subject at the Aug. 25 general committee meeting, just as Town staff are poised to begin the process of preparing their 2022 draft budgets in the coming weeks.
“I’m sure you’ve all been receiving more calls regarding things that need more enforcement, need more controls,” he said. “I think our bylaw department is fantastic. But…I’m sure they could probably use a little bit more support.”
Councillor Tim Withey was first to comment, noting that he was awoken at his home recently by fireworks at 1:41 a.m., and has received many complaints from constituents about the issue.
“I’ve heard anecdotally that people that are doing it, their comments are, ‘well, nobody’s going to stop me’,” said Withey. “So I wholeheartedly agree that we should address this in the next budget. I think we need to beef this up, because it’s almost a running joke for a lot of stuff going on in this town that we just don’t have, as Jonathan said, boots on the ground.”
He, too, commended existing bylaw officers for the work they do with limited resources, “but I think this is kind of getting out of hand. This town is growing. We need people to know that there are bylaws that need to be adhered to and if it means we get more people and maybe some around-the-clock coverage and on weekends or whatever we need to do, we’ve got to get the resources together to do that.”
Deputy Mayor Nancy Alcock and Councillor Dione Schumacher both concurred, with Schumacher adding that she’s been hearing concerns from local lake associations regarding both short-term rentals and fireworks.
Enforcement of issues surrounding short-term rentals should pay for itself, noted Mayor Karin Terziano. “…it’s not supposed to cost the municipality any money. So if there’s bylaw enforcement that needs to be done, it needs to be done within the short-term rental permitting fees and taxes and we do need to get that program running in an efficient manner.”
Wiebe acknowledged that a reallocation of resources may help solve the problem. “If we can really relook at what resources can be allocated how, we may not affect the bottom line for the tax base which is something I would be very much in favour of,” he said. “I think that the amount of time that a lot of the short-term rentals…are swallowing up for our bylaw is really causing difficulties to get out and be seen in all of those other areas.”
He added that the “short-term rental market is growing and it’s going to grow bigger, I think, than we are anticipating. When things really open up, and next year when things are really flying and our main street is back into full steam and people are parking illegally everywhere, I’ll tell ya, we’re going to need…more resources. So if we can figure out the best way possible to not take away budget-wise and really put the resources where they belong, I think we’ll be better serving all of the residents.’
Earlier in the meeting, committee also set budget guidelines for next year. Staff have been directed to prepare their draft budgets with a tax rate increase up to four per cent over 2021. The final tax levy will be determined during budget deliberations later in the year or early in 2022.
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