Luxury cottage rental operator shares her thoughts on potential Muskoka Lakes regulations

Much has been made about municipalities across Ontario developing and passing bylaws that regulate short-term rental accommodations (STRAs), sometimes referred to as simply STRs.

Muskoka Lakes is in the process of developing their own STRA licensing bylaw that would see them fall in line with all other District of Muskoka municipalities. Huntsville, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Lake of Bays Township and Georgian Bay Township all have their own licensing bylaws.

Proponents for stringent rules – and even those NIMBYs who wish they were banned completely – cite several issues including noise and light pollution that can be easily summed up by the statement, “STRAs negatively impact the enjoyment of our property.”

However, many of these issues arise from properties rented online through Air BnB or other websites where the owner or “host” is directly listing their property and these online entities often don’t take responsibility for what happens at the property.

Now Jayne McCaw, owner of Jayne’s Cottages Luxury Rentals, is offering her thoughts ahead of a public meeting set for Tuesday, February 13 at 9 a.m. at theat the Township office (it will also be available on Zoom).

Muskoka Unlimited reported on the bylaw here: Muskoka Newsbites – Nov. 21, 2023.

McCaw agrees with the notion that there are issues arising from those who rent out their properties without a thorough assessment of who the guests are – and then managing the renters when they are at the property.

Having started her cottage rental business in 2014, which acts as the rental manager for over 250 property owners and does all the appropriate due diligence ahead of, during and after a guest’s stay. The cottages under the Jayne’s Cottages banner very rarely have issues because McCaw’s team is hands-on.

“I agree with the need to regulate how properties are rented in order to monitor who is licensed and ensure compliance,” she says via an official statement. “But by over-regulating the licensing system, the council is risking making STRs overly complicated and expensive which directly risks the Township’s continued economic success.”

Explaining how the market in Muskoka Lakes greatly relies on seasonal income, McCaw believes that the municipality “should encourage more responsible short term rental growth to further enjoy a growing sustainable economy, encouraging business growth and employment.”

McCaw shared the following chart to illustrate her point about the annual impact of tourism spending in Muskoka.

She asks, “what happens if we have fewer tourists staying overnight at vacation rentals – look at the trickling effect of the lost revenue to the local economy?”

According to the media release, Jayne’s Cottages advocates and promotes responsible rental management, best practices and codes of conduct to provide an optimal experience for guests, owners, neighbours and communities.

McCaw is a co-founder of the The Ontario Cottage Rental Managers Association (OCRMA), which collectively represents over 2,000 properties and $60 million in tourism revenue. The OCRMA is professional association working for long term sustainability for vacation rentals with cottage rental agencies and professional host owners who adhere to our responsible rental practices.

McCaw says over her nine-plus years operating STRs, which includes fruitful communications with the various townships and bylaw officers in those areas, that are around 15 to 20 complaints each year about problem rentals.

“But, drilling down, one finds that these are repeat offenders from a small handful of negligent owners, usually only five or six owners, who are usually self-hosted on AirBnB,” says McCaw. “These owners are the 99.9 percent of our problems as they rent to anyone who will pay without regard for the neighbours and community.”

To effectively eliminate any problem rental properties, the Township will need effective monitoring and bylaw enforcement or else no number of bylaws or rules will matter.

There are many documented situations throughout Ontario where “rogue rental units” ignore all the rules and get away with it for far too long.

“Engaging in a licensing program is only going to work if the Township has processes in place to ensure criminal charges are being levied to the full extent to those negligent owners,” says McCaw. “While licensing offers us the means to prosecute problem owners, it has to be fully enacted by the Township with set processes and more bylaw officers, otherwise the current problem owners will still be an issue.”

While supporting in principle the idea of a STRA bylaw, McCaw would like to see it done right and would like the Township to consider a few of her thoughts on the matter.

“The licensing system that the Township is proposing is too onerous and too expensive for many of my owners to want to participate in, which could result in high value rentals going underground only exacerbating the issue,” says McCaw.

“I fully support licensing to increase the professionalization of our industry, but to protect vibrant economy we enjoy and to maintain cottage inventory, I believe that for Phase 1, the Township exempts those owners whom are currently renting with accredited OCRMA cottage rental agencies. If there are complaints with OCRMA accredited agencies, then implement Phase 2, requiring all owners to license.”

She says the Township’s goal should be to protect strong tourism economy and support those owners and agencies that have been renting responsibly for years or generations.

The following are specific aspects of the Draft Licensing bylaw (as of January 12, 2024) and McCaw’s comments on each . . .

1.      Under 2.0 Applications:

(a)   All existing Short Term Rental Accommodations that have operated for at least one (1) year prior to the passing of this By-law are required to apply for a license within 90 days of this By-law coming into effect.

McCaw’s Comments: Many owners want to get a license after they get a rental.  Paying the $1000 registration fee and going to the effort of licensing and not getting a rental was not well received in some neighbouring townships such as Gravenhurst, Lake of Bays and Huntsville and owners did get their license after a rental was confirmed.

2.      Under 3.0 Prohibitions:

3.5 No Person shall market, operate, or provide a Short Term Rental Accommodation:

(a) For less than seven (7) consecutive nights per stay within the time period of the Friday preceding the Victoria Day long weekend to the Friday proceeding the Labour Day long weekend of each year; and  

The period from Victoria Day to the Canada Day weekend, school children are still in school and there are very very few rentals.  Demand is low as Muskoka is a family place and kids are playing soccer, baseball and going to birthday parties in the city.  There is no demand for week rentals. There are very few neighbour complaints during this time and demand is low, I think 2-day rentals should be allowed from Victoria Day to the weekend before Canada Day long weekend.

(b) For less than three (3) consecutive nights per stay within the time period of the Friday proceeding the Labour Day long weekend to the Friday preceding the Victoria Day long weekend of the following year.

McCaw’s Comments: No one rents for 3 days unless it is a long weekend.  There are many times families want to get away for a couples weekend, ski doo weekend, Bala Cranberry Marsh weekend – but people will not take a day off work to stay a 3rd night.  As there are not any complaints in the off-season, I think the community should welcome the off-season tourists to our region.

3.     5.0 Under Licensing Application Requirements:

(k) A Site Map identifying all buildings, structures, dimensions and surfacing of the parking area, all components of sewage systems, wells and landscaping features located at the Premise;

(l) Floor plans drawn to scale and fully dimensioned of the Short Term Rental Accommodation depicting each room and its intended use;

This will not be well received by owners.

(p) Proof of sewage disposal system maintenance, inspections and pumpout servicing within the last three years;

This will not be well received by owners.

 (q) All websites or advertising methods upon which the Short Term Rental Accommodation will be marketed;

McCaw’s Comments: Many owner’s agencies market on many sites, including Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, VRBO, Airbnb, Booking.com, One Fine Stay, Pet-Friendly, Booking.com, and other OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) etc.  Many owners and agencies are testing online platforms all the time and many new platforms are being launched everyday, ie. Lake.com.  This is not possible to list all the online advertising that we are using and testing on.

4.      Schedule B – Demerit Points

To market, operate, permit to operate without a license or while license is under suspension should have a significant fine. 

McCaw’s Comments: This is the case in Township of Blue Mountains who charges $2500 for operating without a license.  These owners are the ones that create a negative perception of the entire STR market.

“I still see a lot of people flaunting the STA bylaw,” said Blue Mountain Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon, estimating he could go online and find 50 unlicensed operations advertising themselves at any one time. Aug, 2022.

5.0     Licensing Fees

         $1000 License Application

         $500 Inspection Fee

McCaw’s Comments: I think that the $1000 Fee is completely unreasonable. It looks like a money-grab and the perception is that the Township has a negative view of owners who rent their properties.  In the real sense, the Township should be praising owner who rent when they can’t be at their cottage as it brings in incremental local economy revenue.  I think $250 is a reasonable license fee. I want to ensure that there is not a mandatory inspection fee as that will be very negatively viewed with my owners.  The price of this is very high and should only be levied upon owners who are negligent in some regard.

For more information on the upcoming public meeting, the draft bylaw, or to offer an opinion, head to Muskoka Lakes STRAs.