Markham bylaw will put a stop to 'pee, poop and puke' behaviour, Airbnbs
Sweeping changes made in city council meeting Tuesday night

YorkRegion.com
May 30, 2018
Tim Kelly

In a set of sweeping bylaw changes that were years in the making, the City of Markham has said it’s fed up with neighbourhood noise and trash, secondary suites and Airbnbs.

The wave of change was made official in a matter of hours at Markham city council on Tuesday evening.

In what, at times, was a contentious three-hour meeting, council debated an ominibus 14-section bylaw that included provisions on nuisances, secondary suites, short-term rentals (Airbnbs) and rooming houses, altering the rules on what would be acceptable going forward in the city. The bylaw passed 11-2 with only Coun. Karen Rea and Reg. Coun. Nirmala Armstrong voting no.

To emphasize he wanted action taken immediately on short-term accommodation, also known as Airbnbs, which have caused consternation among residents in Markham, Unionville Coun. Don Hamilton wanted to know how fast the bylaw would take effect.

“People are sick and tired of all the nonsense that’s been going on with all the party houses, they’re sick and tired of seeing yellow school buses come in with strangers into their community,” he said.

He asked Chris Alexander, Markham’s interim director of bylaw enforcement, how soon the just-passed bylaw would be practically enforceable.

Alexander told council it would be by the “next council meeting, by the end of June, we will be up and running with new tools.”

It will now take an application for an official plan amendment as well as a zoning plan amendment to request a short-term rental of up to 60 days in a calendar year in Markham, a difficult and expensive ­task, estimated to cost a minimum of $45,000, according to a city staffer.

Jim Bilkas, an avid opponent of Airbnbs who lived next door to one in his Unionville neighbourhood, applauded council’s move Tuesday night.

He said he wholeheartedly agreed with the resolutions.

“I don’t think it’s fair and I think council agreed, where an Airbnb can operate, pay the same taxes as I am. Why should I pay the same taxes when the guy next door can make $150,000 a year (in Airbnb income) and pay the same property taxes as I am?” he asked.

As for secondary suites, even though the province passed legislation in 2012 mandating that municipalities encourage secondary suites, the City of Markham is discouraging them as an option.

The bylaw passed Tuesday night allows for purpose-built secondary suites, but seeks to outlaw illegal ones, even though councillors acknowledged several thousand illegal secondary suites, such as basement apartments, already exist in Markham.

If a landlord or homeowner does wish to add a secondary suite, it will require a zoning amendment and must be pursued through Markham’s committee of adjustment, a time-consuming process. It will also involve prior notice to surrounding neighbours who can raise objections if they wish.

Rooming houses will be restricted to arterial roads and are not allowed “as of right,” which means there must be a specific request made to apply for them through an application.

Coun. Colin Campbell, in moving the nuisance portion of the bylaw, said he wanted to give bylaw officers and police “some teeth” to deal with nuisance things.

Council clerk Kimberly Kitteringham, in an earlier meeting, said that the nuisance portion of the bylaw was the equivalent of what she called in Oshawa, where she had previously worked, the “pee, poop and puke” element of the bylaw because it seeks to eliminate such public behaviors in neighbourhoods.