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Prince Edward County signs off on stronger short term accommodations regime, secondary residence ban

A light brown brick community centre, with a green lawn and picnic bench in front of its antechamber.
Highline Hall in Wellington, Ontario, where PEC councillors meet while Shire Hall in Picton is renovated. Photo by Alex Wright.
CJPE - 99.3 FM - CJPE - Picton • ON | 11-08-2022
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On Monday, Prince Edward County Committee of the Whole approved of changes to the county’s Short Term Accommodations (STA) regime, which included a ban on all secondary residence STAs going forward.

Following July’s special STA meeting where councillors instructed staff to amend and refine the proposed changes, committee voted and approved the following near final recommendations:

  • A $4,000 fine for failing to post STA license numbers on any STA advertisement;
  • Steeper fines for unlicensed STAs (which will begin at $10,000, and then graduate up to $50,000 for egregious offenders);
  • A 45 calendar day limit for those wishing to fully rent out their primary residence, and;
  • A ban on future secondary residence STAs (besides those already grandfathered).

For the latter change, committee voted 8 to 5 in favor instead of an alternative option which would have allowed for one secondary residence STA per natural person. Picton Coun. Kate MacNaughton, who voted for the ban, remarked, “This is exactly what we embarked upon years ago,” while Sophiasburgh Councillor Bill Roberts who also voted in favor, subsequently brought forward a motion to reconsider the ban, but it failed.

When asked about his reasoning, Councillor Roberts, remarked:

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