Milestone years mean milestone reports, and a look at the municipal law enforcement of Tiny Township showed five-year trends which occurred from 2020 through 2024, including how the COVID-19 pandemic affected department activities.
The report provided at the recent committee of the whole meeting covered the third quarter of 2024, but also gave a year-over-year comparative as well as the greater five-year breakdown, through 10 bylaw enforcement categories.
The COVID-19 pandemic played a large role in 2020 with over 600 general occurrence complaints, but those numbers evaporated by the end of 2022. Watering also peaked in 2020 but reduced over the years; other reductions included parking, noise, and encroachment. Risen since the pandemic were clean yards occurrences.
Two new bylaws concerning short-term rentals and interim control came on the books in 2023.
Short-term rentals were a contentious issue for their creation in 2023, which resulted in 285 property applications; in 2024 the number of applications lowered to 177.
Chief municipal law enforcement officer Steve Harvey explained a breakdown of the 146 property complaints for the year between October 2023 through September of 2024.
“Of the properties that have obtained a licence, 87 per cent (154 properties)… do not have any complaints,” said Harvey. “I think sometimes when we're looking at short-term rentals, we're always talking about the not-so-positive situations. I think it’s important to recognize that… 87 per cent of the time those operators that have attained a licence are following the rules and are not disruptive.”
Additionally, the report noted that of the 146 properties, just three unlicensed and three licensed properties in Tiny generated 85 complaints (32 per cent), ranging between 6 to 40 complaints per property. On average, 140 properties averaged one to four complaints per property. Imposed fines amounted to just under $12,000 for the October 2023 span.
There were 94 charges laid last year, which were closer to the previous five years with the exception of a 176 charge spike in 2023, which staff correlated to short-term rentals; their decrease also lowered the charge graph to an equitable level.
Over 12,000 beach patrols in 2024 occurred, with Harvey noting that just 90 actions (0.7 per cent) resulted in either education, warning or issuing a ticket.
Parking permits raised over $71,500 from residents, on par with previous years; non-resident parking revenue generated just under $34,000. Over the five-year span, the most active areas where parking tickets were issued were ranked as Balm Beach, Jackson Park and Lafontaine Road at Conc. 16 West in the top three. Paid parking generated $165,000 in 2024 across the township, a significant spike due to removed pandemic restrictions and increased paid parking rates; Balm Beach alone generated over $73,000.
When asked by Mayor Dave Evans if processing times for court were getting better or worse, Harvey responded: “On the whole, things are moving along relatively well considering the court system.
“If I was talking to somebody at the province, I'd always advocate for more justice of the peace and more court time, but I think there'd be 445 other municipalities who would echo that as well,” Harvey added.
For the public, Harvey encouraged interested parties to explore the township website where all bylaws were accessible and could be searched.
The municipal law enforcement quarterly activity report, including comparative year-over-year and five-year departmental activities, can be viewed on the agenda page on the Township of Tiny website.
Archives of council meetings are available to view on the Township’s YouTube channel.
