South Frontenac Short-term rental petition

Frank Edwards | Oct 20, 2021

Two Verona-area residents have had enough of the shenanigans at “owner-absent” cottage rentals in South Frontenac Township and have decided to do something about it.

Rick Ottenhof and his neighbour Gabor Solymar launched an online petition this week to rally South Frontenac residents and cottagers to the threat they see coming from uncontrolled growth in the area’s short-term-rental business.

They have seen an increase in rental cottages around local lakes and have decided there’s still time to nip a growing problem in the bud.

Gabor has spent the last month talking to township residents and feels that one of the biggest problems comes from groups of unruly “guests” who spend their rental weekends drinking, boating and partying loudly with no regard for the neighbours or the environment.

“An absentee owner who lives hours away can rent a three- or four-bedroom cottage to 12 people he doesn’t know through an online company and never have any communication with the neighbours,” explains Gabor who has heard concerns about 24-hour parties, loud, obnoxious behaviour, piles of garbage and over-taxed septic systems.

“If a neighbour complains to the guests, some partiers claim that they can do anything they want because they have paid so much money to stay there.”

Rick suggests that a big problem with short-term rentals is that there is often no owner onsite. “We have local people here who rent a nearby cottage and there is no problem. They respect their neighbours and don’t want to disturb anyone. For them it is a way to make a few bucks to help pay their taxes — the problem is with the absentee owners who run these properties as an unregulated business.” He feels that a cottage grossing $50,000 should be treated as a business and not a mom-and-pop rental.

According to Gabor, there are a dozen online short-term-rental companies in Canada. The largest, AirBnb, advertised 244 listings in South Frontenac last month. Daily summer rentals range from $250 to $1,100 so a single three-day period could net South Frontenac’s local “hosts” almost $300,000 if the average weekend rate was $1,200 ($400 a day plus cleaning and service fees).

“The companies and absentee hosts are raking in huge profits but the neighbours and municipality are paying the costs,” he says. “When one set of guests pack up, neighbours begin to worry about how bad the next will be. It’s almost impossible to relax at home anymore. I know cottagers who avoid coming to the lake on weekends because of the behaviour at rentals.”

Together, the pair hope to rally concerned residents to their cause and plan to ask South Frontenac council for new bylaws. Beyond seasonal fire restrictions and an 11pm-7am noise bylaw, there are few rules for guests to obey.

They hope new bylaws will address a wide range of issues from bad behaviour and noise to recouping the costs of increased garbage disposal and emergency services. They want properties to be registered with the township and new rules enforced.

Information on their petition is available on Facebook’s “South Frontenac Life” page.

A link to the online petition is https://www.petitions.net/residents_request_for_enactment_of_a_short_term_rental_policy_and_enhanced_bylaws