Renting has been a “thing” even back to the days when our park was formed. Some of the founding members bought multiple sites as investments, with plans to rent, as the park sought to fill all the sites to fund and recover from the property purchase that created our park PLCR from the privately owned Jellystone.

Much has changed since then, and travel trailers aren’t the majority, but rather fixed location units are now the most prevalent model within the park. At prices often beyond $100,000 for these trailers alone, investment and investment protection is now a hot topic. People buy into this park in most cases to enjoy a family-oriented community resort where continuity contributes to the sense of community. Indeed, some individuals are able to recall the formation of today’s park some 40 years ago in 1982. Truly, we are an interesting mix of younger families, sometimes third or fourth generation, alongside new members and retirees.

In today’s reality, many members are busy for parts of the summer and may wish to rent their sites out to friends and family. Some are even making their units more open and awareness of their availability shared more broadly, including using social media for advertising, and on sites like AirBnB.

Now mix in some assumptions and some problems: sewer blockages, fishing in the boat basin, loud campfires, smoking and open alcohol drinking on the beach, and as you might guess, many of our ailments get immediately blamed on “renters”. The interesting thing about this is, according to security, virtually no renters have been caught and fined for breaking rules. To some extent this is moot anyways, as it is the member of that site that is fined for the issues of their guests, but renters breaking rules in roaming packs doesn’t seem to be a systemic problem.

Renters should be made aware of the frequently asked questions, and common issues like flushing only waste and single-ply tissue, and the obvious rules. In renting, it would make common sense to provide the renter with a copy of the rules and by-laws, and a synopsis of typical issues.

The majority of renters know the member they are renting from, and are anxious to get along with the neighbours and enjoy a family vacation.

This is obviously something we all want to keep an eye on, and understand the facts as they come up. As things stand today, providing to renters an awareness of our rules and the common trigger issues appears to be the most helpful thing to continue renting as a working and viable option for members.