The Town of Cobourg is seeking resident feedback on a proposed licensing system for Short-Term Rental Accommodations (STRA). Residents and Cobourg business owners are invited to share their feedback through an online forum at EngageCobourg.ca and attend an upcoming Public Meeting.
A short-term rental accommodation (STRA) is defined as a private residential dwelling that is rented to provide temporary accommodation to a person or persons who usually do not reside in the dwelling (i.e., Airbnb, VRBO). STRAs are different from hotels since they usually occur in buildings used for residential purposes.
What is the Status of STRAs in Cobourg?
Short-term rental accommodations (STRA’s) are not new to the Town of Cobourg and have been within the municipality for several years, but the amount has been increasing over the years. At present, the Town of Cobourg does not specifically regulate STRAs. However, the Town's by-laws encompass nuisances and permitted commercial uses on residential properties. Therefore, when complaints arise, staff can use existing municipal tools to address some of these concerns.
Benefits to Licensing STRAs
Without a licensing provision currently in place, staff are unaware of current STRA locations until after complaints are received. In addition, without licensing provisions in place, gathering evidence related to nuisance offences presents challenges and may often result in members of the community having to gather evidence and testify in court. Licensing STRAs will provide enforcement staff with additional tools to ensure compliance of all regulatory legislation is met and maintained.
Creating a licensing program offers options that would see an education program, registration of hosts and locations, creation of a database to allow staff faster response, investigation of issues reported and other enforcement activity through fines and prosecution. Additionally, owners and renters will be able to access a database that connects the STRA locations with other tourism resources in the area.
One of the options staff have presented is to implement the Municipal Accommodation Tax to registered STRA’s. This tax would be collected by the accommodation provider and is remitted to the municipality. The municipality is responsible for using a minimum of 50% of the revenue generated from the tax to support tourism related activities such as marketing and promotion while the remainder can be used for general municipal activities unrelated to tourism or department operations.
Draft Proposal
With STRAs come a variety of benefits to travelers and homeowners, but there are also issues for neighbours and the community as a whole. These issues require a carefully developed response with consideration of community standards and ensuring compliance with the Zoning By-law and other applicable standards.
The Town of Cobourg is proposing to amend Zoning By-law #85-2003, and to introduce a Licensing By-law to permit and regulate STRAs. These two by-laws will function in tandem, forming the framework for STRAs in the Town of Cobourg.
The intention of a licensing program is to create equal standards for all STR accommodations to use, to educate and guide owners and renters, and to create a focused control mechanism to address complaints (consequence and legal process).
The Public Engagement Objective for Short-Term Rental Accommodations is to:
Gather feedback from residents and stakeholders on the proposed Zoning By-law #85-2003, and Licensing By-law to permit and regulate STRAs.
We're Looking for Your Feedback:
Please contribute to the following public engagement opportunities below, including:
1. Participate in the Forum at EngageCobourg.ca
2. Attend the Public Meeting, Monday October 30, 2023, 5 p.m. in Council Chambers, 55 King Street West
Please visit Engage Cobourg, the Town’s online public engagement platform to access related documents, including a staff report and the Community Engagement Report from March 2022.
Register on Engage Cobourg Today!
Residents of the Town of Cobourg are encouraged to create a profile online and participate in current public engagement projects. To register on Engage Cobourg, an online public engagement platform designed to gather feedback and comments from residents, visit engagecobourg.ca and click the Register Today! button. For questions or help registering please email communications@cobourg.ca.