Town of Milton could soon have new approach for regulating short-term rentals
Published February 1, 2022 at 12:46 pm
A new approach for regulating short-term rentals in Milton will be up for discussion at an upcoming council meeting.
A short-term rental is also commonly known as home-sharing and is considered a type of accommodation where individuals rent out a residence or a portion of it for a short period of time. This time period is usually less than 30 days and the spaces are generally rented out through internet platforms such as AirBNB, VRBO and HomeAway.
Since short-term rentals are not regulated by provincial or regional policies, some municipalities have developed zoning and licensing requirements for them.
Back in 2020, Milton Council passed a resolution requesting Town Staff to explore options for regulating short-term rentals in a way that would “support the community’s goals and needs.”
In June 2021, staff presented a few options on ways to manage how short-term rentals are operated within the Town.
Since then, staff has held online engagement with the community, meetings with short-term rental operators and further evaluated other municipalities’ strategies for addressing this issue.
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A report being presented to council at an upcoming meeting will recommend the following approach to manage short-term rentals.
The approach includes implementing a Short-Term Rental Licensing By-law which may include a formal definition for a short-term rental, a license and fee, a requirement that short-term rentals only operate in principal residences, a maximum number of guests per unit, a limit of operation as a short-term rental to a maximum number of days per year and a valid certificate of occupancy.
Town Staff will then begin implementing the recommendations in the report by drafting a Short-Term Rentals By-law and a Zoning By-law amendment following the endorsement of the directions.
This report is set to be discussed on Feb. 7.
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