Open Letter to Reeve of TVT September 30, 2025

Public Response to Rob Rainer, Reeve of Tay Valley Township

Re: Hometown News Perth September 30th, 2025

“Reeve Rob Rainer said the case is narrow in scope.”

Robyn: Yes, this case should be narrow in scope. However, on August 29th, 2025, the Township planner Noelle Reeve issued an affidavit focused solely on the old bridge, causing me to hire a planner to answer to the same with information on the new bridge. The new bridge was already completed when the lawsuit began. This drives up my costs. The process is the punishment.

“Of note, the current matter before the court concerns only the use as a short-term rental, and that there are no matters currently before the court regarding the use as a forest school,” – Rob Rainer

Robyn: Yes, technically there are no matters before the court regarding the use as a forest school. But as a sitting member of Council since October 2018, you have been involved for the past 7 years.

The facts present a different story.

Historical

On February 6th, 2018, Tay Valley Township presented a detailed 3-page letter stating we are not a permitted use.

May 14th, 2018

“My letter of April 26 was clear that the Township’s position is that the use as a private school is non-compliant with zoning. The Township and its land use planner considered the “community service” use in arriving at this position and nothing has changed…I will now act on my instructions from Council to commence an application in the Superior Court to obtain an order prohibiting any use of the property that does not comply with zoning”

October 2nd, 2018

Tay Valley Township lawyer Tony Fleming “If your clients wish to resolve this matter and avoid litigation…”

October 11th,2018

“Unless this is resolved I have instructions to issue a Notice of Application”.

By this date there had been eight Closed Session, In Camera Council meetings under “Litigation or Potential Litigation – Building Permit #115-2017” – this is Blueberry Creek Nature Centre. These totaled 489 minutes.

June 3rd, 2022

I send a desperate letter to all Council members to oppose a bylaw to regulate short term rentals. “As most of you are aware, the AirBnB is our sole funding for the Not-for-Profit Blueberry Creek Nature Centre. This is the entire operating budget that keeps us alive and vibrant in our community”

August 14th, 2023 (Rob Rainer has been Reeve for almost one year)

“The Township has recently been made aware that your property at 17638 Highway 7 is being offered for rental accommodation and also houses livestock… Also, the Commercial Zone and the Floodplain Zone do not permit the use of a Livestock Facility…Please correct these violations within 30 days. If the Township is not provided with confirmation that the infractions have been remedied on or before September 14, 2023, it may take enforcement action.”

Our “livestock facility” is 6 hens and 3 pet Nigerian Goats on a 2.5-acre rural homestead, housed in the original barns on the property. It was also false to state that Tay Valley had just become aware of these uses, since both were known by the township since 2018. My lawyer responded I was not in violation of zoning, and I never heard back from the township.

The Present

April 8th, 2025

“As you know, in 2023 my client’s planner sent a letter to your client concerning her operation of an AirBnB. We had hoped that this matter would be resolved in the course of the several litigation matters underway at the time, or by voluntary compliance…We ask that your client cease the illegal operation of the AirBnB within thirty days, failing which I will seek instructions from my client with respect to further legal action.”

It is worth noting that the two litigations were initiated by me, one of which settled spring of 2025 and is under a strict confidentiality ban. Neither litigation had any relevance to the AirBnB.

June 26th, 2025, I was served with a court order seeking an injunction by Tay Valley Township to shut down our AirBnB.

“Asked if council has a policy supporting outdoor schools, Rainer said there is no formal policy, adding the township “supports such schools so long as their siting and operations comply with applicable law.” On legal and planning costs tied to Blueberry Creek, Rainer declined to provide a figure, directing the question to Ontario’s freedom-of-information process. He also rejected owner Robyn Mulcahy’s allegation of harassment.

“There is a disagreement over whether operation of the short-term rental is legal, and the Court has been asked to decide on this,” he wrote, adding this is the first matter the township has taken against Mulcahy in court.”

I would ask Rob Rainer this: how many ratepayers of Tay Valley have initiated legal action against the township since he was first elected in 2018, and how many of those resulted in settlements involving confidentiality agreements?

I would also ask – what public good is spending tens of thousands of dollars paid by the good people of Tay Valley to attempt to destroy the funding for a Community Service? And how is it not a conflict of interest that a sitting member of Council who runs their own short-term rental?

Shutting down our short-term rental will not destroy us. It will result in the loss of a separate rental we currently offer free of charge for 6-8 months of the year to a family in need. This will become our new operating budget. Again, the community loses.

How is anything in Tay Valley Township “A Welcome Change of Pace”?