West Nipissing’s short term rental by-law is just around the corner.
In January, council struck an ad-hoc committee to go over the draft by-law, which will regulate short term rentals, the kind listed on sites like Airbnb. That committee met and provided some suggestions on the proposed policy to council.
The final draft is expected to return to council for final approval in April.
“I think that anything we do here at this table should not be overly burdensome for the good operators” of short-term rentals, Mayor Kathleen Thorne Rochon said. “These are the people bringing tourism into this community.”
“But we want to make sure that the by-law that we develop has the teeth to deal with people who are operating in such a way that it impacts the quality of life for the people living around them,” the mayor added. “That’s the balance that we’re trying to find here.”
See: Work continues on West Nipissing’s short term rental by-law
The ad hoc committee, which consisted of Mayor Thorne Rochon, Councillors Anne Tessier and Kaitlyn Nicole, was rounded out by Fire Chief Frank Loeffen, and Stephan Poulin, the Director of Community Services. They met on February 15 to review and discuss the by-law.
The changes? A new provision was added to forbid camping trailers to be used as short-term rental accommodation. The exception will be for those trailers located within a commercially zoned tourist camping park or establishment where the use is permitted.
Occupancy limits will be based on the number of legal bedrooms within the unit. Two occupants per bedroom, with an additional two permitted as well. They get the couch or pull-out bed.
This presumes the septic system is designed for the number of bedrooms in the application, the committee detailed.
See: Long term vision for short term rentals in West Nipissing
There will be licences required to operate a short-term rental. Class A Licence is for a Principal Dwelling Short Term Rental – for example, you are renting space on the property you call home. The second type is the Class B License, the Non-Principal Dwelling Short Term Rental. These are for places you own but are not your primary residence – cottages, income properties, etc.
A maximum of 100 Class B licences will be available municipal-wide. Further, no more than one Class B Licence will be issued within one kilometre of another Class B Licence holder.
A licence – both classes – will cost $750 to launch the rental, with an annual renewal of $250. Individuals or companies can only be issued one Class A and one Class B licence.
The complete draft is available on the municipality’s website. The alterations are detailed in red. The document will return to council’s table in April when it is expected to be finalized.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
