Get on with it

Correction: The print version of this comment said existing STAs would be grandfathered, meaning they would be exempt from the rules under the proposed regulations. This is incorrect. While new zoning rules will be grandfathered for existing STAs, most new licensing and property standards regulations governing occupancy levels, operational aspects and parking and such will apply to both existing and new STAs.

It seems Shire Hall blinked. While its reaction may be understandable, the consequences may prove short-sighted and potentially damaging. On Thursday, Council was supposed to have approved a set of regulations on the short-term accommodation (STA) sector in Prince Edward County. That was the plan. But after a public meeting on the subject a week ago, Airbnb and other STA operators intervened energetically, urging council members to delay.

It was all happening too fast, they said. There should be more consultation. Let’s take the time to get it right. These are common refrains from folks seeking to buy time to marshal resources to spare their ox from being gored. So, in order to salvage the battered shreds of its proposed regulations, Shire Hall backtracked.

Rather than table the full set of regulations, as it intended on Thursday, it will ask council to punt the licensing of STAs to the next term of council. One final act of abdication by a term of council that has scant little to show for its four years in occupying the soft seats in Council Chambers. Let the wild west reign.

What happened?

Let’s first look at the current situation. There are no rules governing STAs in Prince Edward County. None. In this vacuum, 1,036 County homes have become vacation rentals. Eighty three per cent of these consume the entire house. At 2.2 persons per home, according to Statistics Canada (2016), this means as many as 1,891 residents have been displaced by transient visitors. That’s about seven per cent the County’s total population. Gone. In a community already enduring a declining population.

To be clear, STAs are not the cause of deplorable state of affordable housing in the County, but neither can it be denied that they are a contributing factor. That said, it must be reiterated, clearly and emphatically, that STAs are an important part of our economy—enabling visitors to stay and experience the County. They are a vital part of our economy. And the voices urging council to delay are exercising their legitimate democratic rights in a perfectly appropriate way. But they appear to be driven more by fear of the unknown rather than facts at hand—the actual rules being proposed.

Nothing in these regulations is aimed at “ending” or getting rid of STAs. Rather they establish baseline limits that appear reasonable and considered. Further they establish a foundation upon which the sector will surely grow and thrive.

Given these facts, the only folks who serve to benefit from council kicking the file down the road are the speculators—those looking to opportunistically get into the STA business in Prince Edward County before the proposed regulations kick in. The longer council dithers in this deliberation, the more investors will be incentivized to move before the window closes.

If council punts this decision—even part of it—to next term, it will be six months or more before the next term finds the wherewithal and the backbone to act. That means an open season on every home that comes on the market in the meantime. Furthermore, current homeowners will be tempted to cash in—unable to resist the dollars on offer. And so, the decline risks accelerating. Too many of the comments and letters urging council to slow down appear to have been penned by folks who haven’t yet read the report or objectively considered the proposed rules. They have been public for several weeks now. The generalized complaint that folks need more time to digest these changes is, at best, a weak excuse for not committing the necessary time and energy to County policy-making that directly affects their livelihood. At worst, it is simply a delaying tactic, aimed at derailing any regulation and constraints. In either case, it doesn’t add up to an argument against the proposed regulations. Or acting promptly.

To the criticism that Shire Hall folks mishandled this file—the validity of this claim extends only to the marketing of this policy change. It is a solid and reasonable set of basic regulations. It is a perfectly fine starting point. Staff’s misstep, it seems to me, is that they failed to emphasize that it is a living and breathing document that will undergo scores of revisions and updates.

Yes, of course the next council can start the process all over again. Many more months can be consumed roiling in endless debate. It will not, however, produce a set of flawless regulations. That will only come with experience and time.

Let your council member know, it is time they got on with it.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca