Owen Sound city hall. (photo by Claire McCormack)
A city committee wants to see the number of people who can stay at a short-term rental in Owen Sound capped at eight.
Owen Sound’s corporate services committee advanced several staff recommendations at its July 13 meeting relating to a potential licensing system for properties listed on Airbnb, Vrbo and other short-term rentals.
The committee is recommending the city move ahead with a licensing system requiring all residences offering short-term rentals of 28 days or less — including bed and breakfasts — to enlist in.
The city is also moving towards restricting short-term rentals to only properties that are a principal residence of an owner; and limiting the number of people who can stay at short-term rentals at one time to eight.
“Enforcement is going to be the big part of it,” says Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy. “Right now we’ve got noise by-laws, we’ve got trespass by-laws, and they’re hard to enforce … they’ve got to be there at the right time. This isn’t going to change that, but the licensing is going to give us options to put more pressure on the property owner if they want to maintain their licence.”
Staff will also be reporting back to committee with some information about a potential cap on the number of nights per year a property can be used for short-term rental.
Council still needs to approve the recommendations.
Owen Sound has been reviewing potential regulations for short-term rentals for more than a year, after a petition with nearly 200 signatures came to council urging the city to ban them in residential neighbourhoods.