UPDATE: July 16th, ACW Council voted to proceed with licensing for Short Term Rentals.
Watch the discussion on the video at the 42:40 timestamp. You can also learn about their follow up survey of Lakeshore residents.
Members discussed the results of the Short Term Rental (STR) Survey at the ACW Council meeting on June 4th. You can watch the discussion on video from the ACW website, starting at the 21:04 mark.
There was general agreement to implement some form of licensing and regulation. They proposed a small licensing fee at minimum, requiring property owners to post ACW bylaws on the premises. With time and planning, a larger fee with inspections for smoke alarms, occupancy limits, and septic management might be introduced. Fines for infractions would be levied on property owners to encourage responsible renting.
The final decision will be voted on at the ACW Council meeting on Tuesday, July 16, at 9 am.
Survey highlights:
- Over half of STRs started in the last 3-5 years.
- 30% of respondents opposed any regulations.
- 45% supported inspections.
- One-third supported limiting rental weeks.
- 24% opposed any action.
- 44% supported education.
- 55% supported some kind of restrictions and licensing.
- Out of 747 survey responses, 10% had made bylaw complaints, while 70% had not.
Port Albert was frequently mentioned both in the survey comments and in council’s discussion with complaints about fireworks, noise, speeding, and strains on infrastructure.
The full survey responses are available on the ACW council minutes page, or you can download them directly from this link. Learn what other community stakeholders (fire, police, conservation, etc.) think about STR in ACW.