Ontario cottage country town wants to crack down on party rentals

A destination town in Ontario cottage country is looking at introducing some extra red tape for people who want to rent out their properties on platforms like Airbnb after complaints of out-of-towners hosting rowdy get-togethers, littering and more.

Some Muskoka Lakes residents have taken issue with neighbours renting vacation homes out to strangers virtually non-stop, saying it leads to privacy and comfortability issues, noise concerns, and generally disrupts the peace and quiet that owners themselves tend to respect up north.

The municipality is now considering a new bylaw that would require owners to hold a special licence to list their place as a short-term rental  (by definition, for 28 days or less) and would also include a list of other rules to mitigate the prevalence of party rentals.

The mayor told the CBC that the step would help curb instances of people treating cottages as "unsupervised commercial resort hotels," which have apparently become common in the area.

Some residents contend that the proposal — which includes restrictions on rental dates, lengths of stays, and requires a host remain near the property in case a problem arises — is far too limiting for people who rent their properties out for extra income.

A few are also worried about the potential impacts fewer visitors could have on the local economy.