
(Image from Northern Bruce Peninsula website.)
Northern Bruce Peninsula Coun. Aman Sohrab is looking to propose capping short term accommodations (STA) in the region at 510 at the next council meeting later this month.
Sohrab says this motion he is bringing forward is looking to further reduce the number of STAs in the region after council had previously agreed to cap the number of STA licenses looking at the housing market and ensuring there is enough housing for residents.
“We initially agreed on a number of 700. I am just bringing forward a motion that we reduce that number down to 510,” says Sohrab. “I felt it was a touch too high, there are 5,100 total dwellings on the peninsula, and 700 would be about 14, almost 15 per cent of the total dwellings in our neighbourhood.”
He adds he felt reducing that number to 10 per cent would be more reasonable, resulting in this motion.
He says while there are not too many other municipalities to compare too, he took a look at Prince Edward County, a municipality east of Toronto, and while there has not been a formal cap, there were discussions to cap their STAs at 10 per cent.
“We currently have just over 300 total licenses, so it still allows people to get a few more licenses,” says Sohrab. “It is a reasonable balance between not doing anything too drastic to people right now, but ensuring we are not in a position in the future where we have to call things back.”
He adds this motion could also in turn be affected by the recent Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) adjustment, which is currently receiving feedback from residents.
“The short term cap will affect how much revenue we can generate from the MAT,” says Sohrab. “At one point where we reach the cap on the STAs, then the revenue that we are generating from the MATs will be sort of capped out but just from that STA portion and not from the restaurants or hotels portion.”
This motion will be brought to council at its next meeting on April 24.