At the recent PARCS convention, Andrea Ulrich, the Director of Legislation and Regulations for the Policy and Planning Branch of the Ministry of Government Relations described the government’s plans for the upcoming months – their plans to revise current regulations (that have not been updated for the last 17 years) regarding the process for organized hamlets and RM councils planning together. Andrea has accepted PARCS’ invitation to submit a newsletter describing this proposed process (watch for it). 

Meanwhile, we thought it worthwhile to focus on the presentation by the RM of McKillop (as part of the Members Fair part of convention) described how they, indeed, have been working to pass the necessary bylaws regarding two issues in their lakeshore municipality:

1. CAMPGROUNDS IN COTTAGE COMMUNITIES

During the development of the RM’s strategic plan, residents in the rural municipality indicated their support for smaller sized campgrounds within the rural municipality. There was general agreement that the RM would need to ensure that these campgrounds were compliant with municipal bylaws and regulations. Regulations were put into place to guide the planning decisions. There was also agreement that bylaws should be passed so that the RM would recover the cost of the infrastructure and services provided to the campgrounds.

During the prior history of recreational trailers in cottage communities, the trailers had not been assessed and hence had not been taxed. Only the land encompassed within the campground was taxed and that was done at a rural commercial rate. (Note: commercial land in rural municipalities is typically assessed much lower than commercial land in urban municipalities.) But it was noted that campground residents rely on and use several RM assets and infrastructure. The taxes from only the assessed land would not cover the costs of providing the necessary services to the campgrounds or the costs of maintaining their infrastructure.

The RM’s new Campground Regulation Bylaw states that developers of a campground must obtain a permit along with an annual license to operate. It also states that each site in the campground will be charged an infrastructure/service fee. The annual license fee was set at $50. In addition:

• an annual sewage/lagoon service fee of $30, plus:
• an annual fee for fire services, for EMS and for policing, set at $46,
• an annual landfill usage fee of $24 for a total fee of $100 per year per campsite.

2.  A PERMIT FOR A CAMPER TRAILER ON A REGULAR LOT 

The motivation for allowing recreational trailers on regular residential lots frequently stemmed from the desire of many trailer owners to sample living in a cottage community before they undertook the expense of building a residence in such a community, to get a taste of rural living and to plan for their future – without turning residential communities into campgrounds.

Section 8 of the Municipalities Act and Section 306 of the P&D Act allow a recreation trailer on a regular lot on a permit basis. Permits are attached to the land parcel and not to the owner. A maximum of 5 cumulative permits can be issued within any land parcel. After 5 permits have been issued, the recreational vehicle must be removed, or a development permit issued. An interest is registered with ISC against the land if the Bylaw is not followed. The permit must be placed on the trailer and visible from the road. 

Only one trailer is permitted on a single parcel of land. A penalty fee schedule is attached should the permit holder fail to comply. Permit fees are:

• A one-time temporary permit application fee $75.00
• Annual administration fee $250.00
• Annual solid waste disposal fee $250.00



During the upcoming year, the Ministry of Government Relations is looking to update the processes by which an RM plans with its OHs. Surely the RM of McKillop has modelled their effective process in working with their ratepayers to draft the necessary bylaws regarding two issues faced by their cottage communities.