Short-term rental (STR) operators in Kingsville will no longer need to renew their licences annually with the municipality.
Council accepted a staff recommendation Monday night to shift the rental licence term from one year to three years to reduce administrative workload.
The STR bylaw was adopted November 2024, and since then, the town has received 121 STR applications, issued 83 licences, had 12 refused, 4 withdrawn, and 22 still pending.
Refusals were due to distance rules, missing structures, insurance issues, missed fire inspections, and failed criminal checks.
One councillor brought forward the possibility of yearly fire inspections also shifting to three years.
A move Deputy fire chief Jeromy Garant recommended against.
"We have people sleeping and there's an implication of safety if it's a licensed facility, making sure that the carbon monoxide, smoke alarms are update to and current, and that they're actually installed," said Garant.
"Many times people are cooking they'll pull it down, throw it in a cupboard, forget about it. You've got another tenant, another occupant coming in, there's an assumption and an implication that if it's licensed we're ensuring that it's safe for those next tenants."
Coun. Larry Patterson agreed with the deputy fire chief's recommendation.
"I would hate the town to be responsible if something were to happen, and of course, the first thing they want to do drag everybody into a court hearing and that we're spending another million dollars," said Patterson.
Council ultimately decided not to move forward with any changes to how fire inspections are conducted.
Coun. Tony Gaffan said the program is working as intended.
"We are dealing with human lives and we all know and have heard horror stories at these AirBnB's and short-term rentals when people come in and party. So that's why this was put in place is to protect our residents and the people that staying in our municipality," said Gaffan.
Council heard that the STR complaint line received 12 submissions, of which, seven were found valid for noise, lighting, parking, and unlicensed listing infractions, and all resolved.