Georgina OKs Airbnb, VRBO rentals: What you need to know about the new program

Starting Jan. 1, property owners can apply for a short-term rental accommodation licence

Yorkregion.com
December 3, 2019
Amanda Persico

Airbnbs and VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) rentals have disrupted lakeside living for Georgina residents for a number of years.

After countless meetings, public consultations and numerous consultant reports, the town has settled on a licensing regime to better control short-term rental accommodations (STRA).

Starting in January, those wanting to list their home or cottage on Airbnb or VRBO can do so, so long as they have a licence.

The town will only grant 150 STRA licenses on a first come first served basis, said the town’s bylaws manager Mike Hutchinson. A quick search on Airbnb brought up about 100 available rentals currently in the Georgina area.

“Renting a cottage isn’t a new issue. Someone might rent a cottage to a friend,” he said. “Now, with new markets online, we see it more. Anyone can find and rent a cottage online. This (program) gives us the tools to address the ones that are creating a problem.”

Local homeowners who have become vacation rental hosts see the program as a "happy medium."

“This is the Uber of accommodations,” said Nancy Ann Relihan, who runs a vacation rental in Jackson’s Point. “A proper establishment has a good relationship with its neighbours. No one wants a party palace as a neighbour.”

With the bylaws behind them, the town can crack down on illegal rentals more easily, argued Relihan.

“The town can find a listing on Airbnb and have it listed as non-conforming in 15 minutes,” she said.

Relihan hopes the new registration and licensing program would help crack down on the corporations that operate a monopoly of rentals surrounding Lake Simcoe — the so-called ghost hotels.

“That’s what need to be shut down,” she said. “Not the little person like me.”

But residents still have reservations about the program as it enters its first year.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said local resident Sue Jagminas, who has been following the issue for a number of years.

“I’d be more curious to see how many operate under the radar,” she said. “It would be interesting to see that takes place next summer.”

For years, one of those ghost hotels operated beside the Jagmainas' home, making weekends a mystery when it comes to who was renting next door.

The made-in-Georgina approach not only includes a renter’s code of conduct, but also sets limits on the number of guests, limits the proximity from one STRA to another, and lays out a demerit point system for each registered property.

“We want to remind people these rentals are still part of the neighbourhood and to respect neighbours,” Hutchinson said. “Basically, treat the house as your own.”

Along with the $250 licensing fee, there are also a number inspections required that come with another set of fees, such as $106 for a sewage capacity inspection and $122 for a fire inspection.

Unlike Prince Edward County, which also recently instituted a STRA licensing regime, Georgina has a considerably less expensive and streamlined fee structure.

The County’s licensing fee is based on the number of guestrooms. In a whole-home rental the fee is $325 per guest room and $200 for an owner-occupied rental. There is a four guest room limit sending the licensing fee upwards of about $1,300 for a whole-home rental or $800 for an owner-occupied rental with four guestrooms.

What you need to know about Georgina's STRA licence program:

The town is hosting two public open houses:

• Dec. 10, 5 to 8 p.m. at The Link, 20849 Dalton Rd., Sutton; and

• Dec. 12, 5 to 8 p.m. at the Ice Palace, 90 Wexford Dr., Keswick.

• Applications are available in January 2020 and licences will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis;

• The application fee is $250. The annual renewal fee is $150.

• STRA demerit points:

• Demerit points are handed out based on bylaw infraction;

• If the host does not respond to a town request within an hour, that’s one demerit point;

• The STRA license can be suspended if seven demerit points are given and revoked if a STRA gets 15 demerit points;

• Demerit points are tied to a property for up to two years.

• Renter's Code of Conduct:

• Guiding principles include: the rental is someone’s home, treat it as your own; respect your neighbours; and leave it as you find it;

• Maximum numbers of persons permitted is 12;

• No excessive noise, which includes no yelling, shouting, singing or conversing loudly;

• Renters and guests are not allowed to disturb neighbours;

• All STRAs are to have operating smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and fire extinguishers;

• Renters are to abide by town bylaws, including waste collection, parking, fireworks, parking trailers, boats and snowmobiles, and open-air burning.