A new by-law looks to be coming to West Nipissing pertaining to camping trailers and the sewage they produce.
The idea for the by-law first came to council in May 2019, and Mayor Joanne Savage says it has been a long road to get to this point.
“When it was brought forward to council, the whole issue had to do with enforcement, and allowing our by-law enforcement officers to act on issues that were not being adhered to, or harmful to the environment,” she explained. “All of council concurred that we need a by-law to enforce to protect our environment and to protect our watercourse.”
From November 18 to December 2, West Nipissing Chief Administrative Officer Jay Barbeau, the by-law enforcement officer, the municipal planner, and Mayor Savage with members from council attended six public consultation sessions.
There were five issues brought forward and asked of residents:
- Do residents agree the environment needs to be protected, should there be a maximum allowance on trailers per property?
- Should there be a minimum set-back from lot lines and water-bodies?
- Will there be licencing and if so, will it be one-time or annual?
- If there is a fee, will it be one-time or annual?
“Everyone agreed that there had to be a by-law to protect the environment, there was no disagreement with that,” Savage said. “The issues that were contentious was pertaining to registration and paying a fee. There was quite a variance in opinions between the locations where the consultations took place.”
“There was a variance pertaining to the number of trailers that would be allowed,” she added. “An issue on the existing amount of trailers, would they be grandfathered or not. What would be required for owners to be in compliance as well?”
According to Savage, at the different consultations, many of the same questions were raised.
“We really wanted to make sure that we had feedback from local residents pertaining to the concerns, needs and wants,” Savage stated. “Based on the feedback that was provided by those attending, council is moving forward with the by-law.”
For now, administration is working on a draft version of the by-law, which will be presented to council at a later date.
“It will allow the opportunity for members of council to review and consider whether they adopt it,” Savage said. “Since this involves a change to the zoning by-law, we would be going back to public consultations so they can see exactly what is being proposed and make sure we comply with legislation pertaining to the changes.”
However, one item that will not appear in the by-law is registration or fees, according to Savage.
Although this issue pertains to camper trailers as a whole, Savage says council realizes not everyone was contributing to harming the environment.
“One of the issues by one councillor was ‘let’s not paint every camper with the same paintbrush,’” she said. “A lot of people are very respectful to the environment and they want to make sure it is being enjoyed not just today, but for future generations.”