Town staff in South Bruce Peninsula are looking for direction from council about how to handle people building private stairs, docks, walls and other structures on Town property.
A staff report to council explains, they’re regularly approached by residents who want to install things like docks and patios, for example on road allowances or boulevards beside their properties or across the road from them, sometimes giving access to a lake.
Staff say while some people have requested to build on those properties, they also get complaints from people who oppose those structures.
Staff say a similar situation happened in 2022 when someone built stairs on an unopened road allowance without asking the Town.
It resulted in the Town having to contact its insurance company which told them the stairs should be removed unless a list of conditions were met.
Those conditions included the stairs meeting ‘institutional standards’ for all ages and abilities which could include lighting or safety infrastructure that would be expected on a public set of stairs.
The insurance company also recommended a permit and agreement to make the structure accessible to all and the property owners would be responsible for its upkeep, and hold liability insurance that protects the Town. It would also have to be regularly inspected.
Staff say right now, issues like that are dealt with under the Town’s encroachment on public lands bylaw, which says existing structures can be granted by staff, but new ones need council’s approval.
Staff want to know if council wants a bylaw for this specific issue, though they note, that’s not easy to develop either because structures that are permitted then need to be monitored by staff. They say, thinking years into the future, for example, given the insurance company’s recommendations, if a property changes hands, or someone passes away, it’s difficult to ensure the structures are still in acceptable shape.
They say if council decides that no structures should be permitted on Town lands, then the question might become whether or not to demand existing structures be removed, and if staff are expected to go out and remove those structures.
