We respectfully request that the Town of the Blue Mountains remove Legacy condos from the Short Term Accommodation Licence Program.

While we feel that the STA requirements are appropriate in low density, residential areas, we do not feel that they are applicable to condos that were designed and built as commercial resort units (Legacy condos).

We do not feel that Legacy Units should be required to belong to a property management company with 10 units or more in one complex in order to continue participating in renting their units on a short-term basis unless onerous 'grandfathering' criteria can be met. We believe this requirement will serve to benefit a single property management company that will now hold most of the short term rental properties in their portfolio.

We are deeply concerned about the quality of cleanliness, availability to guests and customer service that will be provided if all owners are funnelled through local property management companies. Current Google searches reveal complaints of below-standard accommodations, poor customer service and cleanliness issues that do not reflect well our commitment to tourism in The Blue Mountains.

We are deeply concerned about the negative economic impact this decision will have on the resale value of our condos if future owners are preventing from using rental income to offset the cost of ownership.

We ask The Town of Blue Mountain's City Council to reverse this decision, remove the license requirement and allow all owners of the above listed Legacy condos to continue managing their own properties without the requirement to join a rental property management company.

Some facts to consider:

Short Term Rentals are Big Business for Small Communities

In 2012, PhoCusWright found that 12% of American adults stayed in vacation rentals, spending $23 billion. [PhoCusWright, 2013]

On average, vacation rentals are at least 50 percent less expensive per square foot than hotels. [HomeAway, September 2012]

Nine out of ten people (90%) believe that short-term rentals bring meaningful tourism and tax dollars to local communities. [STRAC, 2013]