Needing a permit for your 'piece of heaven': more northern Ontario towns bringing in trailer bylaws

Many small northern Ontario towns have seen fiery public meetings in recent years, with raised voices and citizens arguing about who pays more taxes and others accusing their local council of infringing on their rights.

And it's all about trailers.

With the rising cost of waterfront property and the boundaries of southern Ontario's "cottage country" steadily moving further north, trailers are popping up all over the rural parts of the region.

And many towns and townships are now looking to pass bylaws to control where they can set up, what environmental rules need to be followed and how much they have to pay for a permit.

The latest battleground is Sables-Spanish River, a sprawling municipality of 3,200 on the north shore of Lake Huron that includes the towns of Massey and Webbwood.

It is proposing a bylaw that would charge people $700 per year to set up a trailer on vacant land. 

"You can come out and fine me, you can do whatever you want, I will never pay you a dime for a license," one man said at a recent public meeting. 

Another man who identified himself as a homeowner said he was tired of "paying for your trailers."

Claudette Holden lives in Massey and along with her daughter owns a 1.5 acre lot on Maple Lake, with an annual property tax bill of about $1,000, where they have two trailers.

But if the bylaw passes as is, they'd be forced to pack up as it sets a minimum lot size of 2.5 acres. Holden worries that could mean no more summers with her grandchildren at her personal "piece of heaven."

"That's all going to be taken away from them. And for what? Because it's only an acre and a half of land? It just doesn't make sense," she said, adding that some opponents of the bylaw believe it could be unconstitutional. 

"I don't think they're going to be able to go ahead with this."

Kevin Burke, the mayor of Sables-Spanish Rivers, says the bylaw is up for a third and final reading on Wednesday night, but it could be amended before it passes or be sent to a community committee for review.

"The problem is we need something now. Because this is going to explode. The trailer situation is not going to get better, we're going to have more and more," he said.