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taluswood rezoning

A proposed zoning amendment which would make nightly rental of units in Taluswood legal received support from Taluswood owners Monday night, but some residents of Nordic are worried about an increase in traffic through their neighbourhood.

A proposed zoning amendment which would make nightly rental of units in Taluswood legal received support from Taluswood owners Monday night, but some residents of Nordic are worried about an increase in traffic through their neighbourhood. The Taluswood site has always been designated Resort Lands, meaning the property owners pay Whistler Resort Association fees. That fact led most property owners to believe nightly rentals were legal. In fact nightly rentals are not permitted under the current RM24 zoning. Bill McNeney, a co-owner of one of the original Taluswood units, told council the Taluswood strata council was informed last year it was an "oversight" that nightly rentals were not permitted. "We now have to make representation to get what we thought we bought," McNeney said at Monday’s public hearing. However, Nordic resident Owen Owens questioned whether a residential area should be zoned to allow for tourist accommodation and suggested it may lead to increased traffic through Nordic Estates to Taluswood. Acting Mayor Ted Milner, who also lives in Nordic, noted that a hotel is part of Intrawest’s plans for future development at Taluswood and asked municipal staff if there had been any consideration of increased traffic through Nordic that the hotel and the rezoning may bring. "Access to all of Taluswood is through a residential subdivision," Milner said. "I believe it will be the only hotel in Whistler accessed through a subdivision. I think the traffic impact should be studied." Municipal staff have not studied traffic yet because the hotel proposal has not been formally submitted. Doug Ogilvie, vice president of development for Intrawest, also noted the hotel is part of a future rezoning application and said the rezoning to allow nightly rentals won’t trigger a significant increase in traffic, as most owners who want to rent their units have been doing so for years. Council put off third reading of the zoning amendment to its next meeting.