Municipal Council has adopted the by-law on tourist accommodations in Chelsea at its special meeting of March 16, 2023. This by-law specifically concerns principal residence establishments (PRE), i.e. short-term rentals within the owner's principal residence.
Having considered the comments received from residents following the February 15 public consultation and the comments received subsequently, Municipal Council has made the following changes to the by-law. Council also agreed that the by-law would be reviewed in one year.
List of changes
- Allow principal residence establishments (PRE) in the zones applicable to Chelsea Park
- Prohibit ERP on Chemins Valleyview and Vincent
- Maintain a limit of two PRE or tourist residences per zone in the Centre-Village, with the exception of two specific zones in which four PRE will be permitted. These areas are the Padden Block and the area on Chemin d'Old Chelsea in front of the Padden Block.
- Apply the same limit of two PRE or tourist residence to the urban perimeter of Farm Point.
- Allow PRE only inside single family residences and prohibit them in multi-unit, mixed-use, three-family, two-family and mobile home buildings.
- Remove the grace period that may have been granted to residents who operate informal lodging facilities in their residences, therefore requiring them to comply with the conditions set forth upon the coming into force of this by-law.
- Remove the limit of five permits per district per year. This is replaced by a maximum of 40 PRE in the entire area excluding urban areas. The total number of PRE in the Centre-Village is set at 15 and 10 in Farm Point.
- The parking area on the private property on which the PRE operates shall be sufficient to accommodate a number of cars equivalent to the number of sleeping rooms offered to tourists.
- Prohibit primary residence facilities in an additional dwelling unit.
Register to be held
In accordance with the law, a register will be held on March 29, 2023 between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. at the Meredith Centre located at 23 Chemin Cecil.
- If you support the regulatory provisions and conditions that will be proposed in the final version of the by-law, do not sign the register. No action on your part is necessary.
- If you oppose some of the regulatory provisions or conditions proposed in the final version of the by-law, we invite you to sign the register.
The number of signatures collected per zone in the register will determine whether a referendum will be held in the zone where you live.
Référendum
For the purpose of determining whether a referendum must be held in respect to this By-law, the minimum number of signatures needed in the register under the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities is reduced by 50%, rounded up to the next whole number. Thus, the exact number of signatures required to justify a referendum in your zone depends on the number of qualified voters living in your zone.
