There will be more room at the inn if owners of the Scotsman Hotel get their way.
Susan Wheler, who was representing Blair and Brenda McArthur, owners of the five-room in located at 95 Johnson St., said the couple wanted to add a sixth room to the establishment.
The McArthurs are seeking to have zoning, which currently permits a “five-room country inn,” changed to accommodate the extra guest room.
Town politicians were considering the request and an accompanying information report from staff as part of a public meeting during the April 9 committee of the whole meeting.
The home has operated as a country inn since 2002. The McArthurs are the third owners of the business after they purchased it in 2021.
Since that time, numerous interior and exterior improvements have been made with the assistance of the municipal heritage committee.
“The residence has always had six bedrooms,” Wheler said. “However, the current zoning dating back to 2002, permitted only five guest bedrooms to be licenced.”
Currently, there are eight parking spaces on the property — two for the owners, five for guests and one for an employee.
To accommodate the extra guest, the employee space would be converted to a guest parking spot with no alterations required to the site.
“That was because the owners at the time (in 2002) had hired an employee … so hence, the requirement for an employee parking space.”
That further answered a question Coun. Sandra O’Connor had asked earlier to John Federici, senior planner for the town, who was presenting an overview of the proposal.
O’Connor had wondered if one of the resident spaces could be removed to make way for the extra guest space.
“Does that make any difference?” she asked.
“I don’t think there would be any difference in that case,” Federici said.
Wheler, meanwhile, said the request for the extra room conforms to both the town’s official plan and its comprehensive zoning bylaw.
The report was received for information and the proposal will return to council at a later date in the form of a recommendation report from staff.
Prior to the public meeting, a virtual open house was held on March 25 and was attended by one person who was in support of the application.
