Innisfil councillors know they don’t want ghost hotels in their community, but after months of debate during several public planning and regular council meetings, they still don’t agree on the best way to get rid of them.
Those were the thoughts of Mayor Lynn Dollin during another lengthy debate on short-term accommodations (STA), during the June 22 council meeting.
After the issue was deferred in April, councillors will be moving forward, relying on stronger versions of the town’s bylaws in an attempt to curb the disruptions caused by ghost hotels and their guests, as opposed to introducing a licensing system.
Council opted to amend two zoning bylaws that reinforce the prohibitions on ghost hotels in residential zones and non-waterfront properties but don’t eliminate the cottage rentals in the Our Shore Community Planning Permit System (CPPS) area. The amendments also feature “refinements” to the definition of what a Bed and Breakfast is in Innisfil that maintains “the requirement that the owner resides on the premises,” the staff report stated, specifically enshrining that “ghost hotel type STAs are not permitted.”
These amendments would work in partnership with recent amendments to the town’s noise bylaw, which allows enforcement staff to pursue charges against STA operators who fail to take adequate steps to ensure their guests are in compliance. Making sure staff are supported when enforcing the bylaws on the books was key to solving the issue in the eyes of Coun. Ken Fowler.
Fowler was one of the six councillors who voted in favour of amending the bylaws. He had faith that if the town could showcase how serious it is about punishing those who break the rules, it would have the greatest impact possible.
“Show people, that no matter what happens, if you’re not going to come here and respect Innisfil, we will not accept your behaviour and you will follow the rules that every other tax-paying resident has,” Fowler said. “Hit them; hit them hard. Make one party house an example and you’ll see everyone go, ‘whoa, if that’s going to happen to me, maybe I need to get mine in line too.’”
In moving forward with strengthening the bylaws, councillors decided to ignore the two recommended options staff put before them.
The first option was to create a licensing system for all STAs that would be implemented in two stages, beginning in November. An advantage to the licence system would be that it would allow staff to legally enter an STA for the purpose of inspection.
Staff indicated to council that enforcing zoning bylaw infractions for suspected ghost hotels has not been typically pursued in the past due to “prosecutorial challenges,” including “limitations on the right of entry into dwellings without consent or a search warrant.” But, with the licence system, properties would have to be inspected by town staff, including the fire department, prior to obtaining a permit to legally operate.
Licensing, Deputy Mayor Dan Davidson argued, would unnecessarily handcuff the next council.
“It’s a hard time for us to debate this tonight when really, it’s the next council that’s going to have to live with our decision,” he said. “Nothing can be done until the end of November 2022 and it’s the new council that’s going to have to deal with the fallout of our decision tonight.”
Coun. Rob Nicol disagreed and suggested it was this council’s job to try and solve the problem as staff had recommended.
“I am truly surprised by the suggestion that we should defer this item, especially from some of those who’ve already said that we need to get control of this,” Nicol said. “This council has an opportunity to show their intestinal fortitude and to do our job, rather than deferring this back to the next council, which will likely have five or six new council members.”
There are approximately 300 STAs in Innisfil and about 10 per cent are responsible for the bulk of resident complaints, which almost exclusively are levied during the summer months. Finding the solution to deal with those properties has been the stumbling block for the municipality.
The second option called for the licensing implementation plan to be limited to cottage rentals within the CPPS waterfront area as a pilot project. Staff would then report back to council in one year with its findings. While more limited than bringing in licensing across the municipality, it still would allow a commercial operation in a non-commercial area.
That was a deal breaker for Coun. Alex Waters.
“No matter how I look at this, if we license, we’re allowing commercial operators into residential zones,” he said. “I don’t want to move ahead with any sort of licence because I think we’re just saying ‘that’s okay,’ and I don’t think it is okay.”
And once you allow those businesses onto your lakefront, Waters added, the town will begin to lose its historical cottage country appeal.
“I could see a lot of lakefront properties being owned as ghost hotels, as commercial entities, for profit,” Waters said. “I don’t think in 20 years we’ll recognize our lakefront as a family-friendly place.”
Licensing, Mayor Lynn Dollin suggested, wouldn’t be the same as encouragement, as she compared the kinds of businesses the town doesn’t license, such as plumbing companies, to those it does, such as strip clubs. The difference, she stressed, is that a strip club – like an STA – is a nuisance and the town wants to be able to control its operation.
The mayor also questioned the comments of her colleagues who were opposed to the staff recommendation but called on the council to back them up and empower them to better use tools already at their disposal.
“Staff are telling us the best tool is a licence – not to enable, but to control,” she said. “If you give somebody a licence, you can take it away.”
The motion passed by council calls for the zoning bylaw and CPPS bylaw to be amended at the August meeting of council and for staff to report back nine months after implementation with an update on the effectiveness of the bylaws. The motion also calls for a letter to be submitted to the province asking for it to “investigate and introduce enforcement tools to assist municipalities in enforcement against ‘ghost hotels'."
The record vote was 6-3 in favour of the motion, with Dollin, Nicol and Coun. Donna Orsatti opposed.
