June 13th UPDATE: The debate and Council decision on an Oshawa AirBnB By-law has been delayed.
Previously I'd posted that a Report and proposed By-law was expected to come to the June 17, 2019 Corporate Services Committee meeting, but on June 12th staff indicated a change, that this matter was being postponed, as the Report was not yet complete.
Unfortunately it has been an outstanding work item on the Corporate Services Department status list since 2017 and is an issue of concern to a number of people.
In 2018, staff were authorized to initiate a public and industry stakeholder consultation process as detailed in Section 5.5 of Report CORP 18 51
The plan was to develop a Business Licensing class to regulate short-term rentals, taking into account feedback from the consultation process, and report back to the Corporate Services Committee in 2019. It is now expected in the fall.
In these past six months that I've been on Council I've been contacted by a number of people on this issue. I've learned that some are not only angry, but some deeply disturbed, actually afraid to live in their own home when a house on the street becomes an AirBnB party centre, with 60 or more people being dropped off any night, and monster speakers being hauled in to blare music. They've said calling the police just makes it worse as the partiers quiet down only for a short while. Then more Uber cars with partiers arrive and the noise ramps up again.
Below are a couple interesting letters related to an article in the Wall Street Journal on this topic:
"Lax Regulation on Airbnb Is Far From Consequence Free
It has negatively affected many of the beautiful, quiet and family-oriented neighborhoods of my town.
May 28, 2019 3:34 p.m. ET
I agree with your May 21 editorial “Making Room for Airbnb”: The company is making the hotel market more competitive. However, the majority of Airbnbs are being opened in residential neighborhoods never zoned for commercial use. Properties in nice neighborhoods are snatched up by companies who operate Airbnb and vacation rentals and hire property managers. It has negatively affected many of the beautiful, quiet and family-oriented neighborhoods of my town and brings our property values down. Zoning boards see dollars coming into the city and only hear one side of the issue, but residents are left to deal with the disruption.
Gina Stipo
Louisville, Ky.
I disagree that “disrupters” such as Airbnb and Uber should not be regulated. Older platforms in the same industries like hotels and cabs are regulated, and often over-regulated, yet the disrupters have entered the market claiming to be mere tech companies rather traditional service providers. This claim is a naked attempt to avoid regulations and taxes.
The same companies also dodge costs by not owning property or employing workers; they purport that their sole function is to collect money for booking services provided by their electronic platform. To foster true competition, local governments should free cabs and hotels (and other comparable industries) from the costs currently imposed on them by government and let then compete head to head with the disrupters. In the absence of this much-needed liberalization, proper and measured regulation and taxation of disrupters comparable to that suffered by the traditional hospitality and transportation industries is the only fair option.
Lars Kristiansen
Annapolis, Md."
Previously I'd posted that a Report and proposed By-law was expected to come to the June 17, 2019 Corporate Services Committee meeting, but on June 12th staff indicated a change, that this matter was being postponed, as the Report was not yet complete.
Unfortunately it has been an outstanding work item on the Corporate Services Department status list since 2017 and is an issue of concern to a number of people.
In 2018, staff were authorized to initiate a public and industry stakeholder consultation process as detailed in Section 5.5 of Report CORP 18 51
The plan was to develop a Business Licensing class to regulate short-term rentals, taking into account feedback from the consultation process, and report back to the Corporate Services Committee in 2019. It is now expected in the fall.
In these past six months that I've been on Council I've been contacted by a number of people on this issue. I've learned that some are not only angry, but some deeply disturbed, actually afraid to live in their own home when a house on the street becomes an AirBnB party centre, with 60 or more people being dropped off any night, and monster speakers being hauled in to blare music. They've said calling the police just makes it worse as the partiers quiet down only for a short while. Then more Uber cars with partiers arrive and the noise ramps up again.
Below are a couple interesting letters related to an article in the Wall Street Journal on this topic:
"Lax Regulation on Airbnb Is Far From Consequence Free
It has negatively affected many of the beautiful, quiet and family-oriented neighborhoods of my town.
May 28, 2019 3:34 p.m. ET
I agree with your May 21 editorial “Making Room for Airbnb”: The company is making the hotel market more competitive. However, the majority of Airbnbs are being opened in residential neighborhoods never zoned for commercial use. Properties in nice neighborhoods are snatched up by companies who operate Airbnb and vacation rentals and hire property managers. It has negatively affected many of the beautiful, quiet and family-oriented neighborhoods of my town and brings our property values down. Zoning boards see dollars coming into the city and only hear one side of the issue, but residents are left to deal with the disruption.
Gina Stipo
Louisville, Ky.
I disagree that “disrupters” such as Airbnb and Uber should not be regulated. Older platforms in the same industries like hotels and cabs are regulated, and often over-regulated, yet the disrupters have entered the market claiming to be mere tech companies rather traditional service providers. This claim is a naked attempt to avoid regulations and taxes.
The same companies also dodge costs by not owning property or employing workers; they purport that their sole function is to collect money for booking services provided by their electronic platform. To foster true competition, local governments should free cabs and hotels (and other comparable industries) from the costs currently imposed on them by government and let then compete head to head with the disrupters. In the absence of this much-needed liberalization, proper and measured regulation and taxation of disrupters comparable to that suffered by the traditional hospitality and transportation industries is the only fair option.
Lars Kristiansen
Annapolis, Md."
