The pace in Muskoka is starting to pick up as the busy season begins. And helping businesses get ready is an influx of staff.

As with each season, business owners must first secure staff. For many, sometimes the hardest aspect of the search is to find a place for employees to live.

We’ve all heard the wild stories about what happens in staff accommodation units, and over the past couple of years, many resorts have simply gotten rid of these buildings in favour of having staff living off-site. The only problem is, no one wants to house a group of usually college- and university-age workers. That is until now.

A company called StaffRes presented Muskoka Lakes council with a solution. In partnership with local businesses, staff accommodation would be constructed in Bala and Port Carling to help with the annual housing crunch.

Both sites have been the subject of the NIMBY (not in my backyard) syndrome, but the buildings have gone ahead as planned.

Port Carling resident Bill Grigg brings up a good point. Why can’t these types of accommodations be built at the resorts? This comment does make sense, especially since it has been made known that the Bala and Port Carling houses will be full of staff from Red Leaves. Surely there is room within that development to house staff. But perhaps they, too, don’t want it in their backyard.

While StaffRes owner Suresh Singh gives his word that his units will not become problems for neighbours, the township needs to do more to at least give taxpayers a heads-up to these kinds of developments, as well as the means to hold Singh accountable for his promise.

Should a building permit be all you need to build a house that will accommodate more than two-dozen people, especially since these two buildings are clearly rental units? Should StaffRes and others not be held under the same guidelines, especially for accessibility and safety, as those building commercial units such as apartments and condos?

These are questions councillors need to find the answers to, because more and more of these types of developments are surely on the horizon as the demand for affordable staff accommodation continues to grow.

KF