At one time, the Bala Bay Inn was one of the crown jewels of the small Muskoka community, drawing people from around the world to the charming red-brick hotel a stone’s throw from the blue waters of Bala Bay.
Rumour has it former U.S. president Woodrow Wilson even vacationed there shortly after the start of the First World War.
Today, the red-brick building still stands along Muskoka District Road 169, but now weeds engulf a property littered with garbage, where old mattresses lean against windows of the former hotel, now home to staff of JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort and Spa which opened in 2008 in nearby Minett, Ont.
And, parked at the rear of the property sit six temporary modular units in noncompliance with township bylaws, unoccupied.
Intended to house the overflow of Marriott staff, the trailers now represent the centre of a years-long battle between the owners of the property – 2253100 Ontario Inc. – and the Township of Muskoka Lakes and its concerned residents.
“It’s just sad. It’s just an eyesore,” said Pam McDivitt, a member of We Love Bala, a group of concerned residents assembled to support the township during a Local Planning Appeal Tribunal earlier this month.
The township ordered the trailers removed in 2018 when the company was found to be noncompliance based on the absence of a building permit and a site plan application that stated the units would be for staff accommodation.
The property is zoned for community commercial and resort commercial use only.
That same year, the hotel reportedly closed for renovations. Currently, a website called balabayhostel.com lists rooms available with two twin beds for $399 per night, but a voicemail to make a booking went unanswered.
McDivitt calls that “a joke.”
In early 2019, 2253100 Ontario Inc. requested a zoning amendment for the property. The township voted against it and the company filed an appeal with the tribunal, “to permit the accommodation of staff and contractors employed at any tourist resort in the township and is permitted within any building or structure on the subject property,” according to documents from the case file referring to the hotel as the Bala Bay Inn.
“How the Marriott, in the first place, ever got to build that monstrosity without staff accommodation blows me away,” McDivitt said of the resort and spa in Minett, roughly 25 kilometres from Bala.
“The Marriott are the NIMBY-ists,” McDivitt opines, referring to the “not in my backyard” term she said has been used to describe those in Bala opposing the staff housing. “They’re the ones who don’t want their own staff in their backyard.
“I just think it’s a really poor solution from a really big name,” she said, adding, “it’s an insult to the staff, I think.”
In an email response to an interview request, Leah Leslie, director sales and marketing for JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka, declined to comment.
“There will not,” she added, “be an opportunity for an interview with anyone representing the resort on this topic.”
The Marriott has also been the subject of conversation at the Georgian Bay council table after multiple sewage spills at the Minett resort property. In the summer of 2019 the company was issued a work order from the provincial government to conduct water testing.
Phil Harding, mayor of the Township of Muskoka Lakes, recognizes the issue has resulted in a community divided.
“Everybody wants the properties and the business and for people to visit and stay, but there are implications that come with that,” he said, including staff who need housing.
Harding said the tribunal process helped mediate the situation because, ultimately, “everyone is entitled to an opinion.” Still, the stance of council is to uphold the current bylaw and zoning and to have the trailers removed, he said.
Change is difficult for people, Harding noted, particularly when there is no personal benefit. “I’m not saying this is the right change for Bala, hence the reason, unanimously council voted to uphold our zoning bylaws,” he stressed.
Karen Kotzen, communications consultant for Tribunals Ontario, said the tribunal strives to issue its decisions in a timely manner.
“Many (Local Planning Appeal Tribunal) decisions are issued within 90 days of the hearing, although some matters may take longer, depending on the complexity of the issues.”
Kristyn Anthony, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, muskokaregion.com
