Council vetoed a request for an site-specific, interim-control bylaw as a solution to short-term rental (STR) related issues brought forward by residents of Sumac Lane.
"A short-term rental started operating recently," said Susan Lawson, addressing council at its meeting this week. "We've witnessed the homeowners are never at the property and there's no control or supervision of the number of people attending. This has become a cycle occurring two to three times a week. Rentals occur for one night, two, three or four nights a week.
"We're experiencing garbage left hidden in the forest," she said. "We are cleaning up after them. Renters also leave garbage on the highway. They also leave garbage in the shed at the property where it sits for days. There are odours and potential rodents."
Lawson said she and her neighbours were looking for council to support a site-specific, interim-control bylaw to address the issue immediately and all council members seemed to be sympathetic towards the case.
"I agree with you 100%," said Coun. Jim Downer. "I would like to see this site-specific for the whole town of Midland, not just your area. You've brought some good points to our attention. I would support you in this pursuit. I think it's time we took a look at an interim bylaw, much like Oro-Medonte did."
Coun. Bill Gordon also agreed.
"If we have the power and ability to put something temporary on this," he said, "that bides us time to look at the more wholistic picture of how we can manage, and regulate short-term rentals. That discussion takes a longer time and meanwhile you languish in these problems."
However, not everyone was convinced that was the way to go.
Mayor Stewart Strathearn said interim control bylaws are the thermonuclear option in planning, also known as the sledgehammer.
"I live on a private road, too." he said. "And we have a number of rentals on that street. What we have found is that continunous and engaging dialogue with the people who run those properties is very fruitful in dealing with issues. Having you continued to have dialogue?"
As well, Strathearn said, a letter by the owner, included in the correspondence sent to council, indicates they were looking to take possession of the property. That move would change the operation, he added.
Lawson said early on she and her neighbours had thought that might be the case.
"But it hasn't changed," she said. "We have been basically deceived. I haven't said anything further because there's nothing else I can do because there's no bylaw. The dialogue continues with the neighbours but nothing has changed."
Coun. Jon Main asked if the residents on the road south of Little Lake had alerted authorities of the problems they were facing.
"When you had some incidents over the summer, did you follow up with the police or the COVID hotline or the bylaw department over some of the property standards issues?" he said.
Lawson's answer was no.
"At the beginning, it was more trying to stay good neighbours," she said. "We have spoken with them, the homeowners, we've given them our concerns. We've dicsussed it in great detail. Did we contact the police? No we did not.
"In May, it was at an early time, it just came on so quickly...and maybe we should have complained," said Lawson. "Honestly, I didn't think it was going to be a recurring problem."
The motion to look at an immediate solution was brought forward by Coun. Beth Prost, however, when that was voted down by council, the second motion to address the problem of STRs in Midland, also brought forth by her, was then discussed with staff input.
"The current (zoning) bylaw dates back to 2004, which predates the sharing economy," said Rob Elliott, executive director of community & development services​. "It had never contemplated this sharing economy and I don't see it as prohibiting short-term, seasonal or long-term rentals. It really doesn't give the town in its current form a mechanism to restrict the way it's written today."
Then he explained why the interim-control bylaw is called a sledgehammer method.
"The real effect of an interim control bylaw is to freeze things as they are today," said Elliott. "This would not have the effect of withdrawing current use somebody is legally permitted today. It would prevent someone from starting a new STR in the future.
"The reason we call it the sledgehammer is because there is no public process. As planners, we love the public process, it's really important and valuable. We have no idea if people have bought properties and have business plans to help pay for their financial arrangements for their properties through short-term rental. Therefore, it can have some unintended consequences. It won't alleviate the issues the resident shared with you today."
The way to go about addressing this issue, he said, would be through a comprehensive zoning bylaw review, for which staff plans to seek funds during budget.
Deputy Mayor Mike Ross asked if the current zoning of R5 allowed STR use in that area?
Elliott said that had not been clearly identified in the bylaw that was written almost 20 years ago.
"I don't see any restrictions in there for a tenure of a rental," he added. "I don't believe the intention was to restrict a short-term rental. My interpretation is to not allow a hotel or a motel to operate."
However, Prost pointed out, this specific house is being referred to by the owner as a business.
"I think that's kind of the big picture," she said. "Is it going to continue and how? Because it's affecting the residents' everyday life. How can something be put out there to maybe help smooth this? This person bought a house and they're paying residential taxes, and they may not be paying commercial taxes, so there are a lot of other issues here that need to be brought up for everyone's benefit."
Prost said maybe if the town could look into licencing and taxation as enforcement and create some rules around what a residential home could be.
"Maybe we need to have something so it protects the people wanting to do STRs and the neighbours," she said.
Elliott said staff could definitely take some time to do that.
"We could come back with a work plan and identify the problem and what's happening elsewhere," he said. "We do know that people are challenged to pay for their homes and property taxes so there could be some unintended consequences if we don't do this properly. In the meantime, I would advise residents on Sumac (Lane) to exercise their rights to call the fire department, the police and bylaw."
