His local health unit has ordered the resort to shut down all of its hot tubs because they don’t comply with provincial rules — rules that he says have been ignored by local officials for decades and don’t apply in neighboring jurisdictions. Orr runs the Buttermilk Falls Resort, which includes nine rental cottages and five hot tubs. Hot tubs are located on the private decks of each cottage and are only used by guests renting that particular cottage. But last month the resort was forced to drain the bathtubs after the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District (HKPR) health unit said they did not comply with provincial regulations. Requirements — typical of large public pools with shared hot tubs — include drowning safety equipment, a landline phone and shower facilities. “It’s kind of crazy,” Orr said. “[The tubs] they are incredibly safe… because they put in a bunch of extras [safety measures] do they really not apply to this?” CBC Toronto spoke to four resort owners who say they were left in the dark after the health unit ordered them to close their hot tubs, even though they’ve been operating as is for several years — some for decades. One of the private hot tubs at Buttermilk Falls. The rules cited by the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit appear to have been unenforced for years and ignored in similar cases in neighboring jurisdictions. (Angelina King/CBC) The owners say the regulations are impossible to meet and the closures not only affect their bottom line, but will be detrimental to the larger economy of Haliburton County – about 200 kilometers northeast of Toronto. “We really want to be a part of the community and help the tourism part of the community and we feel like we’re not doing that and we’re at a disadvantage,” said Harsha Manani, co-owner of the Lakeview Motel. .
The rules are not new
The director of environmental health at the HKPR Health Unit says provincial regulations have always applied to hot tubs at these resorts, but that the health unit discovered many of them only recently after an order was issued at one of the properties last fall. “We learned about some of these other businesses from competitors who were pointing fingers at them,” said Bernard Mayer. Since issuing that first order, the unit has ordered hot tubs shut down at two other properties and is investigating four others for non-compliance with pool and public spa rules under the Health Protection and Promotion Act. WATCHES | Hot Water Resort Owners:
Resort owners say small businesses ‘left in the lurch’
Harsha Manani says it was heartbreaking to let guests down after the hot tubs were closed Lakeview Motel appealed its order to the Health Services Appeals and Review Board, arguing that the private hot tubs were not public spas because they were only available to guests staying in four specific units. The rules have an exception for properties with five suites or fewer. But the review board upheld the order on the grounds that there were a total of 14 “dwellings” at the Lakeview Motel. Mayer says the number of people using or accessing a hot tub isn’t the problem. “[The regulation] it is based on the number of rooms and suites in the property that are available for rent,” he said. The Ontario Tourism Industry Association says the HKPR Health Unit is the only one it knows of that applies the public swimming pools and spas regulation in this way. The Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit, which regulates another neighboring, tourism-heavy part of the province’s country country, says it does not enforce the regulation on private spas inside rental units intended for the exclusive use of tenants. Rob Berthelot of Sandy Lane Resort says guests canceled their reservations when they learned the hot tubs weren’t available. (Greg Bruce/CBC)
Resorts estimate a 25% drop in revenue.
Manani’s tubs remained closed, which it says led to a 25 percent drop in revenue. “We were absolutely amazed … because the hot tubs were used for 20 years prior to our ownership with absolutely no problems,” he said. Orr says he was losing about $1,000 a week giving discounts to guests who booked a vacation home with a hot tub, and he estimates the resort will lose a quarter of its annual revenue if it can’t reopen the hot tubs this fall. “At this level we’re probably not doing our mortgage and at this level we’re probably closing the whole resort,” he said. Other operators, such as Rob Berthelot, who owns the Sandy Lane Resort, have already asked guests to cancel after learning the hot tubs are no longer available. Last month that closure notice was given to Buttermilk Falls. (Submitted by Stephen Orr) “It’s disappointing because it came out of left field,” he said. “I have enough other issues to deal with having lost almost half a million dollars in revenue over the last two years due to COVID.”
The Health Unit “likes”
Mayer says the health unit sympathizes with the resorts and therefore has not issued any fines against them. “We try to work with them where we can,” he said. “Typically for any one of these we could issue 12 charges, which could add up to more than $3,000.” The ordinance issued against Buttermilk Falls Resort lists more than 30 violations, including a lack of showers, a dedicated emergency landline, a rope buoyancy aid for emergency use, a spine board and a timing device that requires users to exit the hot tub. to restore it. Adding just the phone lines would be “prohibitively expensive,” Orr said, and would force the removal of the hot tubs. Even though Oakview Lodge and Marina only rents out a single six-bedroom cottage to one group at a time, health inspectors still shut down the indoor hot tub. Greg Hebert, co-owner of Oakview Lodge and Marina, hopes the resort owners and the local health unit can find a “common sense” solution. (Greg Bruce/CBC) Co-owner Greg Hebert has been told he can remove two beds from the property to reduce the number of “units” to less than six or remove the bathtub. “There has to be, hopefully, some common sense somewhere in the middle,” he said. Resort owners say they are happy to comply with the reasonable regulations and would like to work with the provincial government to amend them, but so far they have gotten nowhere. CBC Toronto asked Ontario’s Ministry of Health to clarify the intent of the regulations and whether the province would consider amending them, but the ministry chose not to answer those questions. Instead, in a statement, a spokesman said the ministry could not comment on the case because enforcement of regulations — and inspections — are the responsibility of local public health units. Manani says small, family businesses like hers are left in the lurch. “What are we doing? What can we do?”
