Huntsville Council has asked staff to return with a report regarding the implementation of an interim control bylaw that would see the Town of Huntsville halt the issuance of short-term rental (STR) accommodation licenses for up to a year while it studies the issue.
Municipal staff was asked to look at ways of capping the number of licenses issued in certain areas of the municipality but a report brought back to the Town’s General Committee meeting on April 26, 2023, noted that there is no ability under provincial legislation to do so. Manager of Building and Bylaw and Chief Building Official for the Town, Chris Nagy, told council that some municipalities such as Tiny Township have put such restrictions in place in their bylaw but are being challenged in court.
“As this bylaw has been appealed, it was noted by our legal counsel that the tools and restrictions within that bylaw cannot be used by the municipality until it is heard by the courts. It is expected that this matter will be bought to the courts in the early months of next year,” he added.
Director of Planning Services Kirstin Maxwell told council that the only way to prohibit the issuance of new STR licenses is to put an interim control bylaw in place “and that really is a significant tool under the Planning Act and it is a hammer. It shuts down everything,” she said. An interim control bylaw would only buy the municipality some time, up to a year (there is a possibility of an extension for an additional year), while it studies the issue.
Maxwell said when municipalities use interim control bylaws they do not have to give notice and there are no appeal rights, although that may soon change. The province has introduced Bill 97, which if passed would add an appeal option to interim control bylaws. “So depending on timing, it might be under appeal anyways and I can imagine that there would be quite a few appellants to a bylaw of that nature…”
If challenged, the Town would have to go to court and have to spend “an awful lot of money” instead of waiting until early next year for the outcome of cases already before the courts.
Councillor Jason FitzGerald said that maybe the idea behind trying to get rid of or limit STRs “is a little overzealous. I think we want to keep the good ones [and] we want to get rid of the bad ones. So fortunately, we do have the tools to control that so I think that should probably be our focus…” said FitzGerald who pushed for a review of enforcement efforts and fines.
There are currently 161 properties actively licensed as short-term rentals in the Town of Huntsville (excluding resort properties) and 56 applications currently under review. Of the 161 licensed properties, 19 are located in the Hidden Valley area, according to Nagy.
The meeting agenda included comments from the public on the issue in the form of a letter and a petition, which staff indicated contained 81 signatures. The petition called on the Town of Huntsville not to issue STR licenses to owners listed as Members of the Hidden Valley Homeowners Association. “Currently, 25% of the homes in Hidden Valley are operating as STRs. This is an alarming rate that is negatively impacting the health and wellness of our community,” stated the petition.
A letter submitted by the President of Cottage Vacations, Jay Katzeff, was also included in the agenda. The letter noted that it is unfair to blame short-term rentals for the lack of affordable housing in Huntsville.
“Short term rentals provide a valuable service to our community, offering tourists and visitors a unique and authentic experience of Huntsville while supporting our local economy. By limiting the number of short-term rentals, we risk limiting our ability to attract visitors and generate revenue for local businesses, which in turn affects the overall health and vitality of our community,” wrote Katzeff. “As the President of Cottage Vacations, a local short-term rental agency which has been based in Huntsville for 23 years, I am constantly hearing the alleged horror stories of Airbnb’s and VRBO properties, the stories that you do not hear are the ones of the angry owners who go out of their way to ruin a families vacation. We get complaints from our renters, who are typically families who are looking to enjoy cottage country, that the permanent resident neighbour would rev their motorcycle all night, or urinate in his garden while facing their bonfire, or being yelled that they are Cityidiots while out for a walk with their dog. This type of behaviour is unwelcomed and all it is doing is driving future cottage owners, residents, and vacationers out of Huntsville.”
Huntsville Councillor Scott Morrison said he is not against STRs. He said he’s owned one, he and his family use them, and “I do think there is a place for them in Muskoka and there will be forever and I do know that we make four per cent on the rental of them so I’m pro-STR.” Morrison said his concern involves the number of STRs “and the fact that it does have an impact on affordable housing because it takes housing away from the rental and family housing pool.”
He said he does not want to take away anyone’s existing license but he believes there are enough STR licenses already. “…you don’t have a right to profit from a home. You don’t have a right to own three or four properties in our community and make money off them, that’s not a right and a freedom. I’m worried about the right of the single gentleman who I saw yesterday on the news. He’s living in his truck with his two daughters because he can’t afford to live in a house. I’m worried about the people that are trying to work in this town and can’t. People trying to employ people and can’t hire employees—I’m worried more about those rights than funding second homes, that’s not what I’m focused on.”
Councillor Dione Schumacher said she too is in favour of STRs but also spoke to the impact a proliferation of STRs is having on the community fabric of certain neighbourhoods.
Despite staff’s recommendation to wait and see how current court challenges go and rely on enforcement efforts, Morrison introduced a motion seconded by Coucillor Monty Clouthier to implement an interim control bylaw and freeze STR licenses while staff review the issue and look at ways of controlling the number of licenses issued.
Councillor Corey Clark said the issue needs to be looked at thoughtfully and carefully. “And as the report states what we’re actually allowed to change or restrict is very limited.” He said if any changes were to be made, they’d have to be made to the bylaw and then there would also be the question as to whether those changes would comply with the Municipal Act. He also suggested that public consultation take place before any decision is made.
Staff is expected to return to a General Committee meeting with information about the implementation of an interim control bylaw.
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As I believe affordable housing is the greatest existential threat to the quality of life in Huntsville, I find it discouraging that year after year Huntsville leadership has the same superficial and misinformed conversation about short term rentals. The net result of this “talking the talk” is to kick the issue down the road (presumably until ALL our children and young families have left).
What is particularly discouraging is that the role of short term rentals in communities is absolutely known. Since 2008, when Airbnb incorporated, literally tens of thousands of scientific studies have been conducted on these economic units. And yet, reminiscent of the the Covid discussion we still have people spreading misinformation. Here is what is factual about short term rentals:
1). Airbnb and our local leadership like to characterize short term rental owners as “mom and pop” situations. But that is s1mply not true. THE SHORT TERM RENTAL INDUSTRY IN CANADA IS DOMINATED BY LARGE COMMERCIAL COMPANIES (CMHC; Coombs et al 2019);
2). Short term rentals DO NOT generate new economic activity. Study after study has found that between 94 and 98% of STR clients when questioned say that without the STR option they would have stayed at a local hotel/motel/resort. So rather than creating new economic activity in a location, short term rentals simply steal customers from existing hotels (which themselves have employees and are purpose built constructed)(Guttentag 2016; Morgan Stanley Research 2017).
3) Short term rentals increase the cost of long term rentals. In a landmark study, Mercante and Horn 2016 found that for every 12 Airbnb listings per census average rental costs increase by .4% THUS FOR HUNTSVILLE, OUR SHORT TERM RENTALS HAVE INCREASE THE AVERAGE LONG TERM RENT BY $ 240 PER MONTH
4. Short term rentals increase the cost of home ownership. Studies by Mercante and Horn (2016) and Zervas et al (2017) have found that for every 12 Airbnb listings the cost of the average home to buy increases by .76% THEREFORE IN HUNTSVILLE, THE COST OF THE AVERAGE HOME TO BUY HAS INCREASED SIMPLY DUE TO OUR SHORT TERM RENTALS BY $142,500.
In short, short term rentals are a scourge to communities. While I have no problems with small “mom and pop” operations as they are small players in the industry. But there is absolutely no justification for third party STRs (i.e. STRs that are owned by a non resident of the rentalhome/unit).
It is also of note that STR restrictions are common in Ontario. Toronto and most the GTA have banned STRs that are not a principle residence. And even then, they must be registered and operate not more than 180 days per year. These restrictions have been challenged and ultimately approved by the Ontario Land Tribunal (formerly the Ontario Municipal Board). Toronto is currently actively collecting the $1,000 fines for violations of these bylaws
Similarly Orillia and Collingwood have banned STRs from residential areas. Again these have been appeal and ultimately approved by the Ontario Land Tribunal, declaring short term rentals as wholly commercial operations.
Lastly, the first step for Huntsville is to get an actual count of STRs and ownership as the city of Kawartha Lakes did. Huntsville counts 188 registered short term rentals. Last night I counted 504 short term rentals listed on Airbnb; VRBO; Home to go and Deerhurst….. and there must be more. Using the GTA fine structure, this undercount represents $300,000 income to the town.
There is absolutely no excuse then for council and town leadership to continue to dither. By returning a significant proportion of thee STRs which were stolen from the housing stock of the city, housing immediately becomes more affordably