By Adam Frisk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Highlands East council voted to allow short-term rental (STR) operators to opt out of the municipality’s public tracking map, a sudden shift from staff recommendations.
The change in direction happened at the July 14 regular council meeting after a debate about a staff report on the municipality’s STR webpage and Geographic Information System dashboard map.
Stacey Brown, STR licensing clerk and enforcement officer, presented to council her report that noted strong public interest, ranking the STR webpage as the 11th most visited page across the municipality’s website with 2,181 total views since Sept. 16, 2025, with an average engagement time of one minute, topping the site average.
Staff urged council to keep the mandatory online dashboard, noting that residents use it to flag unlicensed operators. According to the report, staff said that privacy concerns from hosts represented “very small portions when compared to the broader public interest,” and warned that removing the map would make Highlands East an outlier in Haliburton County.
But some council members said they had received pushback from owners who felt cornered by the mandatory rule.
“At this day now, we’ve got a choice. None. If you want to be a STR operator, it has to be on the map. It’s the end of it. Case closed. No options,” deputy mayor Cecil Ryall said during the meeting. “So in my opinion, I am against having only two options. If there was (an option) where you could volunteer, I would certainly support that.”
Coun. Ruth Strong also asked for a third option, allowing for STR owners to decide whether to have their dwelling listed on the map.
Brown defended the map, adding that it is pretty much a standard requirement for a commercial operation.
“They’re applying for, essentially, a business licence to operate,” she told council. “At the end of the day, if they don’t want their name on the map, they don’t have to get a licence.”
Faced with only the two staff recommendations, council decided to go their own path, creating the third option.
“I would definitely be for the opt-in and opt-out for an option,” coun. Angela Lewis said.
Lewis moved to amend the resolution, which was seconded by Ryall.
Council adopted the new directive, which allows STR applicants to opt in or out of using the online map.
Highlands East is the first municipality in the County to make public mapping voluntary for licensed hosts.
