Short-term Accommodations

Background

Short-term accommodation rentals can be defined as all, or part, of a dwelling unit used to provide sleeping accommodation for vacationing members of the public, but may also include persons travelling for business or work purposes. Most commonly these types of accommodation are marketed through web-based services, such as Airbnb, CanadaStays, or VRBO-style organizations.

The success of internet-based short-term accommodation rental services has opened opportunities for home owners to promote vacation stays of their premises. In combination with a constrained supply of roofed accommodations in The County, short-term accommodation rentals appear to be highly popular.

The impacts of short-term accommodation rentals on adjacent properties, neighbourhoods, and the local economy can be both positive and negative. In 2017, County Council passed a motion instructing staff to report on the impacts of the sharing economy in the accommodations sector and to recommend strategies The County could pursue to address opportunities and challenges associated with this growing sector.

Project Timeline

May-July 2018

Public consultation conducted, including an online survey and public open houses

August 2018

Release of proposed draft short-term accommodation regulations for review and public comment

September 2018

Final proposed regulations to Committee of the Whole and Council

Previous Engagement Opportunities

Statutory Public Meeting Under the Planning Act

Committee of the Whole held a public meeting at 1 pm on Thursday, September 27, 2018 in the Council Chambers, Shire Hall, 332 Picton Main Street, Picton. The purpose of the meeting was to consider a proposed Official Plan amendment and a proposed zoning amendment.

Agenda for the short-term accommodation public meeting

Special Committee of the Whole Meeting

Mayor Robert Quaiff called a special Committee of the Whole meeting for the purpose of receiving a presentation and reviewing draft recommendations for regulating short-term accommodations in The County. No decisions were made at this meeting.

The meeting took place on Monday, September 10 at 7 pm at the Wellington and District Community Centre (111 Belleville Street, Wellington).

Online Survey

The municipality conducted an online survey in May 2018, which generated nearly 1,500 responses.

Click here to view the survey results.

Previous Open Houses

The municipality hosted two open houses on Tuesday, July 17 in Wellington and Wednesday, July 18 in Picton to gather feedback on short-term accommodations in the County of Prince Edward.

At the open houses, staff provided information and answered questions about the short-term accommodations review. Staff also presented the preliminary results of the recent online survey and discussed the strategies County Council could pursue to address opportunities and challenges associated with this growing sector.‌‌

Click HERE to view the presentation from the open house

Click HERE to view the information boards displayed at the open house