At the June 22nd council meeting, Innisfil Councillors voted 6 to 3 to hold off licensing Short Term Accommodations, as had been previously proposed by Town staff.
Stronger Bylaws: A majority of Councillors felt that working on stronger versions of the Town’s bylaws was the best way forward. They all agreed that “ghost hotels” are not permitted. Also, there will be amendments made to the Town’s no
Town’s noise bylaws to allow staff to pursue charges against violators. Mayor Lynn Dollin was in support of licensing, stating that “Staff are telling us the best tool is a license – not to enable, but to control,” she said. “If you give somebody a license, you can take it away.”
Cottage rentals option a Deal Breaker: Another option called for a licensing implementation plan to be limited to cottage rentals within the waterfront area as a pilot project. 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…I don’t want to move ahead with any sort of license because I think we’re just saying ‘that’s okay,’ and I don’t think it is okay”
In comparison, on June 22nd in Oro-Medonte, Council also did not move forward with licensing STAs. They concluded that STAs were always illegal except for the following exemptions:
- areas zoned rural residential (not shoreline residential)
- areas zoned as timeshares
- existing B and Bs
- those that can prove they have legal non-conforming status to 1997
Oro has asked staff to come back to Council with a plan for enforcement
https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/innisfil-says-no-to-sta-licencing-for-now-5516155