'It's time they paid their fair share,' northern Ontario towns cracking down on 'illegal trailer parks'

People with a camping trailer in the rural parts of our region might have gotten a knock on the door from a bylaw officer over the long weekend.

More and more towns in northeastern Ontario are requiring permits for those who set up outside of designated trailer parks.

In Sables-Spanish Rivers— a sprawling municipality of 3,200 on the north shore of Lake Huron that includes Massey and Webbwood— town council passed a bylaw last year requiring a $400 permit for trailers on vacant land.

The plan caused a real uproar in the town last spring, including some raucous public meetings.

But Mayor Kevin Burke says things have settled down since then and many of the "illegal trailer parks" that were the target of the bylaw have disappeared.

He says a few trailer owners have registered with the town, but he suspects there are dozens of others that bylaw officers will discover as they start enforcing the new rules in the coming weeks.

"It's a slow process and I'm not surprised by the results. You know, conscientious objectors. So, we'll see how it goes," said Burke.

He says while the owners of vacant bush lots do pay property taxes to the town, it's a much lower rate than someone with a home or camp. 

"You're not paying for fire protection, you're not paying for policing, you're not paying for roads. So it's time they paid their fair share," he said.

In French River, it's still against the law to set up a trailer on vacant land. 

But the town of 2,800 south of Greater Sudbury now requires a $400 permit to set up on a property that includes an existing home or cottage, with two trailers allowed per lot, but only one for a waterfront location.

Mayor Gisele Pageau says there hasn't been much pushback to the new trailer rules. 

"At the end of the day, people understand that we're just trying to protect our waterways and we're trying to protect people, so they have a good time when they're here in French River," she said.