The Tyrolean Village Zone
The Tyrolean Village Zone is made up of chalets and cottages of varying sizes and types. If a chalet or cottage is located in an area, within TVR, and is serviced by both Municipal water and sewer then that chalet or cottage shall be permitted to go back and forth, in terms of use, between STR and LTR activity without penalty. In other words as long as the property itself has full Municipal services it shall always be eligible to be an STA and be legally rented out for periods of less than 30 consecutive days, as long as the property has a valid STA License.
If a property currently exists in the TVR zone and is on septic only then the STA use at that property must be maintained as continuous so as to ensure it remains as an active STA licensed property. If that use were to change to, for example, a one year annual lease, then the property might not be legally permitted to be re-licensed without that property having full Municipal services (both water and sewer).
It is important to note that CRU, or Commercial Resort Unit, activity is not legally permitted within the TVR Zone save and except for one specific 8 acre parcel of undeveloped land within the TVR zone
The Snowbridge Zone
All properties that are eligible for short-term rental use (STA) are located within three specific multi-unit townhome developments.These three developments are located at 170, 171 and 184 Snowbridge Way. Any townhomes within these developments are eligible to be used for STA activity and importantly must have an active and valid STA License. It should be importantly noted that CRU or Commercial Resort Unit activity is not permitted within the Snowbridge Zone.
Multi-Unit Condo Developments Surrounding The Blue MountainVillage Lands
Condos and Townhomes within these multi-unit developments (full list found below) are legally eligible to be used for short-term rental (STR) activity. That STR activity must be either self-managed or owner-managed or the unit must be professionally managed by an accredited Commercial Resort Unit Rental or Lease Management Company such as, for example, Property Valet . If you, as a property owner, are making a decision on which Commercial Resort Unit Rental or Lease Management Company to use it is vital that you check to ensure that the CRU Rental or Lease Management Company, in fact, fully meets the Municipal Zoning Bylaw definition of an accredited CRU Rental or Lease Management Company.
Here is the definition of a Commercial Resort Unit Rental or Lease Management Company as found within the Town of Blue Mountains Municipal Zoning Bylaw.
CRU RENTAL OR LEASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Means a program that provides for the full centralized management of a minimum of ten commercial resort units including, but not limited to: a registered business that provides for such full centralized management. The Program shall provide a point of contact being a company that shall be available on a 24 hour basis for security, housekeeping, maintenance, and accounting matters. In this definition, “full centralized management” means common, centralized or shared advertising, booking, operations, security, housekeeping, maintenance and accounting. Under full centralized management it would be required that any reservations/booking within a Commercial Resort Unit (CRU), being brokered, for any monetary gain or profit, be managed exclusively by the CRU Rental Lease Management Program Manager and not by the CRU unit owner, independent of the CRU Rental or Lease Management Company. [ ZBA 2021-59 ]
Here is the definition of a Commercial Resort Unit as found within the Town of Blue Mountains Municipal Zoning Bylaw
COMMERCIAL RESORT UNIT (CRU)
Means one room or a group of rooms in a building used or designed or intended to be used as a single, independent and separate housekeeping establishment: a) In which food preparation and sanitary facilities are provided for the exclusive use of such occupants; b) Which has a private entrance from a common hallway either inside or outside the building; c) Which is part of a rental or lease management program which consists of a minimum of ten commercial resort units in one or more buildings; d) In which the maximum habitation per housekeeping unit is restricted to 120 days per year; and, e) Which has been established to provide accommodation for gain or profit, but does not mean or include a residential dwelling unit, a hotel unit, a motel unit, an inn unit, a lodge unit, a short term accommodation unit, a dormitory unit or a hostel unit.
Here is the definition of a Commercial Resort Unit Complex as found within the Town of Blue Mountains Municipal Zoning Bylaw
COMMERCIAL RESORT UNIT COMPLEX
Means a building or group of buildings containing a minimum of ten commercial resort units that is part of a rental or lease management program.
Final Synopsis
To state the guiding principles as simply as possible, if a property owner wishes to self-manage their short-term rental unit, and it is found within Area 3, then the property owner must have a valid STA License in order to do so. In the event that the same owner opts to sign a rental management agreement with an accredited CRU Rental or Lease Management Company then then the property owner nor the specific unit would need an STA License.
It needs to be expressly clear that under the TBM’s Zoning Bylaw, that both STA use and CRU use are two legally permissible uses within mulktiu-unit developments located within Area 3 (except within Cachet Crossing where only CRU is legally permitted).
Wintergreen
Sierra Lane
Rivergrass
Mountain Walk
Chateau Ridge
North Creek Resort
The following development currently only permits CRU activity.
Cachet Crossing
All Other Areas (Grandfathered Units Only)
It is a fact that any existing STA-licensed properties that are located within Area 4 are defined under Provincial legislation as “grandfathered” and as long as the current use (STA) continues then the grandfathering rights are protected under Provincial Law. Those protections can be found within Section 34.9 of the Ontario Planning Act.
If the use of one of these currently STA Licensed chalets/homes changes then the Town could, in theory under Law, legally assert that the permissible and legal use has changed. If this were to occur then the right to apply for and obtain an STA License could be lost. Once that use changes and those grandfathered rights are removed from the land, then the subject property could never obtain an STA ever again.