The District of Sechelt has launched legal action against Chris Cutlan for his use of an accessory building as a bed and breakfast accommodation at the Tuwanek Hotel development, which is in contravention of the District's current accessory building bylaw.
The bylaw, passed in March of this year, states use of an accessory building as part of a bed and breakfast operation on lots with an area of less than 2,000 square metres is prohibited. It also restricts bed and breakfast operators from using more than two bedrooms in their homes for guests and allows only four guests in a facility at one time.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of legal action launched by Cutlan against the District earlier this year saying the new accessory building bylaw was made to single him out and that the District was aware of his bed and breakfast operation utilizing an accessory building when the new bylaw was created.
Sechelt Mayor Cam Reid said the bylaw was not made to single anyone out. "[Cutlan] has not been singled out and we've made every effort to work with all the bed and breakfast operators in a responsible manner, recognizing the community issues. Our bylaw does, in fact, restrict it to two rooms, and it had before. When one looks at his advertising as a hotel, it certainly has been offensive to the community," Reid said.
Reid pointed to public concerns being the catalyst for the new bylaw. "When we listened to the public we heard issues of vehicle traffic and activity and the imposition of commercial operations in residential areas. It just seemed to be appropriate that if you're going to have an auxiliary building that it be on a larger piece of property," Reid said.
Cutlan told Coast Reporter he felt the accessory building in use at his Tuwanek Hotel should be grandfathered in under the old bylaw.
"In July 2005 we had our permits issued and we started construction on the Tuwanek Hotel. In November council started trying to prohibit the use of accessory buildings in bed and breakfast accommodations. We finished construction in February and opened in March. The District passed the new bylaw on March 13 and we wrote them a letter saying we assumed we'd be grandfathered in. That didn't happen our position is that the bylaw was done and rushed through prior to us being issued our business licence and it was directed specifically at us," Cutlan said.
His lawsuit against the District outlines this issue. However, the District says he has continued to use his accessory building as a bed and breakfast during the legal action. Cutlan would not confirm that.
"Mr. Cutlan violated several District bylaws before and after he had a business licence, by renting out his accessory building as part of the bed and breakfast without having been issued a business licence to run a bed and breakfast. In addition, he has been renting out two rooms in the house and the accessory building at the same time, which violates the part of our zoning bylaw that says only two rooms can be rented at any time. Finally, he is not supposed to use the accessory building as part of the bed and breakfast at all, based on the zoning amendment council adopted in March 2006. The District launched legal action against Mr. Cutlan recently because of the various violations of our bylaws," said Joni Heinrich, director of corporate services for the District of Sechelt.
The two lawsuits are expected to end up before the Supreme Court of B.C. where Cutlan hopes both issues will be dealt with at the same time.
He says not being able to use the accessory building could result in a loss of $60,000 to $70,000 annually.
