Province takes action on 'medieval villages' in northern Ontario after months of 'limited response'
CBC
The provincial government is taking action against so-called "medieval villages" being planned in the northern Ontario wilderness.
It has ordered the developers working in unincorporated townships to show they are following the rules by the end of the year.
More than a year after first hearing the concern about these off-grid communities popping up in the Temiskaming district, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing issued an information bulletin on Nov. 30.
It lays out existing laws and policies around planning, building, sewage disposal and water use that need to be followed in unorganized areas outside of municipal boundaries.
In a letter obtained by the CBC, the ministry further requests specific information from the Boreal Forest Medieval Village corporation that has developed four of these villages so far in the north and gives it under Dec. 30 to reply.
The letter states that previous requests for information from the province have received "limited response."
It asks for a description and inventory of the structures built on these properties, information about the number of composting toilets in use and the estimated daily sewage flows, evidence of permits for waste disposal, as well as plans for drinking water and emergency services, especially considering the "primitive" roads into these properties.
The ministry is also looking for information about the legal relationship between the people who buy shares in each village, entitling them to a half-acre of land, and the corporation that actually owns the undivided property.
Requests for comment from the Boreal Forest Medieval Villages corporation were not returned.
"There are laws and policies in place and that they need to be followed," said Russell Evans, the president of the Kenogami Watershed Ecological Alliance.
The group was formed after a medieval village was planned for undeveloped waterfront property on Kenogami Lake, across from Evans's home.
He and some neighbours actually tried to purchase the property earlier this year, pooling together $650,000, about $25,000 more than what he says the village developers eventually bought it for.
Evans says since then there has been some "friction" around the lake, with private roads leading to the property at times being blocked so would-be investors couldn't go take a closer look.
He believes this ministry bulletin makes it clear that a multi-unit development would not be allowed on the waterfront property, but would still like to see the province issue a minister's zoning order to close any potential loopholes.
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