City lays charge over Airbnb short-term home rental

Toronto’s licensing officials have laid a charge for the first time under the zoning bylaw over a vacation rental.

Thestar.com
March 29, 2016
By Vanessa Lu

The city of Toronto is taking the owner of a short-term house rental to court, charged with violating a zoning bylaw.

This is the first time that the city’s licensing department has taken action in the booming area of short-term vacation rentals.

The house in question is on Glenelia Ave., in the Bayview Ave. and Cummer Ave. area, which was the scene of a shooting earlier this month. Residents of the quiet Willowdale neighbourhood have been complaining for more than a year about noise, garbage and, on occasion, wild parties.

The city’s municipal licensing and standards department laid one charge against 2391324 Ontario Ltd., the numbered company that owns the property.

The offence dates back to last October, but the case only had its first appearance on Tuesday at the Toronto East Court on Markham Rd., but was put off to a later date.

Under an old North York bylaw, it states short-term home rentals must be seven days or more.

A call placed to a number listed for the house rental for comment was not returned.

If convicted, the penalty could be $50,000, though a justice of the peace, who would hear the case, could issue a conviction with no penalty, essentially a suspended sentence.

City spokeswoman Tammy Robbinson said there are no convictions on record specifically related to a short-term home rental or tourist home under the North York bylaw.

City council has approved a harmonized bylaw, bringing together the hodgepodge of different bylaws that existed before amalgamation, but it is under appeal before the Ontario Municipal Board. That means, in some cases, both bylaws apply.

Robbinson added that there are no other outstanding charges related to other short-term home rentals in the city.

But the growing popularity of online rentals such as Airbnb, which estimates that Toronto hosts have welcomed 219,000 visitors in the past year alone, raises concerns about the need for regulating these services. Airbnb says it has 6,800 hosts in Toronto.

The MaRS Solutions Lab was hired by the Ontario government and the city of Toronto to develop a strategy for regulating the sharing economy. It will be issuing recommendations later this week that will look at home rentals as well as the controversial UberX service, where ordinary drivers use personal vehicles to ferry passengers around.

Councillor David Shiner, who represents Willowdale, argues police and municipal licensing and standards officials need to work together to put a stop to these home rentals, pointing out residents had complained about noise hours before the shooting took place on March 20.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation,” he said, adding the police had been called, partygoers were told to quiet down, but the party continued until the gun violence occurred. “People shouldn’t have to put up with this.”

Shiner noted that even though a charge was laid last year, the case only had its first time in court on Wednesday, and was put off. The councillor said the house on Glenelia Ave. is clearly an illegal use, given licensing officials have found listings online.

“It is an illegal use. The court system is too slow,” he added.

In a statement, Airbnb said the home where the shooting took place was not booked through Airbnb on the night of the incident, but it “proactively removed the listing immediately following the occurrence.”

Airbnb added: “It is important not to forget how rare these types of incidents are, and the millions of safe stays that are enjoyed every night by guests and hosts who share their homes.”