A verbal update on the short-term-rental (STR) task force from CAO Robert Lamb to Tiny council recently revealed some unsavoury actions, from both residents of the township as well as rental operators alike.
“The committee that council appointed has been hard at work since September trying to work our way through all the dynamics of how to address the short-term-rental problem,” began Lamb.
Short-term-rental accommodations have become a discussion for many municipalities that are struggling to regulate their licensing and zoning bylaws, in an attempt to handle the legality of STR operations while calming residents affected by the temporary visitor locations.
The CAO explained that as the Tiny STR task force gets closer to its goal of recommendations for council in regards to short-term-rental accommodations, the dialogue has been very good.
As the STR task force chair, Lamb stated that coming into a potential final meeting next week, the group was dealing with “the more heavy slugging of getting into the varied nuances” toward potential official plan policies, zoning bylaw policies, and the licensing program and code of conduct for renters.
“I will note though,” warned Lamb, “we have had a lot of noise coming at council and staff, and I think that’s probably the best word I can use for it. From rental operators as well as residents who are trying to jump the gun and to influence the outcome of the work of the committee – prior to actually even getting to the point, and in fact, trying to influence council – before we even get to the point of making recommendations.”
Lamb further stated that “it will be very difficult to get consensus on both sides because nobody will be truly happy; that’s just the nature of this scenario.”
“But I’d ask for some patience from some members of the public, and especially from the short term rental operators who – we haven’t even as a committee made final recommendations; we’re still having discussions – yet we’re getting a lot of sabre rattling taking place that I don’t think is necessarily fair to the work of the committee.”
Coun. Cindy Hastings, a member of the STR task force, thanked Lamb for the “great summary.”
Coun. Gibb Wishart, another STR task force member, also stressed urgency in coming to a conclusion.
“I just wanted to agree that we need to hustle on this,” said Wishart. “The pressure’s on. We’re going to affect the public and we’re going to affect the businesses, so we need to go.”
Lamb suggested members of the public attend the next task force meeting on March 22, adding that due to the volume of emails from the public regarding the “hot topic," a special meeting of council at another time could be a possibility prior to presenting recommendations at a regular meeting.
“I think we have (most planning, legal, and bylaw opinions) coming in; there will be both our planning consultant and our legal (consultant) at the next meeting to explain the rationale for some of the wording and the language in the policies and the proposed policies, so fingers crossed we get through it all next week.”
Mayor George Cornell also asked members of the public to “be fair to the task force, let them do their job” and come back with recommendations.
Agendas, minutes, and motions from the STR task force meetings can be found in the documents section of the Tiny Township website.
Further information on STR accommodations can be viewed within the short term rental page located on the Tiny Township website.
Archives of council meetings, including short term rental task force meetings, are available to view on Tiny township’s YouTube channel.
