Landowners are continuing to close snowmobile trails on their property in protest of government land use designations, but not all members agree with the methods.
Snowmobile trail closures are expected in Dwight, Bracebridge and Gravenhurst in addition to Port Carling, said Deb Madill, vice-president of the Muskoka Landowners Association during a press conference called by the association Jan. 4.
Madill argued the government keeps adding environmental designations and often landowners don’t know the land use restrictions are on their property until they request a building permit, she said. She added the fight has gone beyond the District of Muskoka’s tree-cutting bylaw, which was terminated last year after landowners closed local snowmobile trails in protest of the bylaw.
“The tree-cutting bylaw was the mere tip of an iceberg of restrictive environmental legislation policies and strategies that deprive, rob and strip private landowners of their property ownership, rights, benefits, usage, enjoyment and real property values,” said Madill.
Still, some landowner association members disagree with the association’s current tactics.
Snowmobile trail closures are wrong, said Scott Hayden, association member and president of the Algonquin Snowmobile Club during the meeting.
“For this executive to consider closing trails again is selfish to the extreme and creates hardships to businesses in the neighbourhood. It is absolutely wrong and even obscene for you to climb on the backs of your friends and neighbours and fellow businesses to further your own ambitions,” said Hayden.
Hayden said he owns a cottage resort at Oxtongue Lake and a 100-acre woodlot.
“I can look at this from all sides,” said Hayden.
While he agrees with the association on private property rights, Hayden said he would withdraw his membership from the association if the executive could not come up with another way to achieve their goals.
Hayden said he maintains cross-country trails and snowmobile trails on his property.
“Snowmobile trails on my property will remain open. This is how you give back to your neighbours and your community,” said Hayden.
Clayton Brown, a landowner in Port Carling, stood up for his decision to close the trail on his property.
Brown said he feels bad for businesses that depend on snowmobiling, but the legislation affects all landowners.
“I am standing up for what I think is right,” said Brown. “They (government) should have no say on our private land.”
Brown argued that no one would pay attention to the issue, if there weren’t snowmobile trail closures.
Norm Miller, MPP for Parry Sound-Muskoka, said he would take the association’s concerns to the provincial legislature soon after the session starts on Feb. 16, but he disagrees with the landowners’ methods.
“I certainly don’t support closing the snowmobile trails and using that as a tool in a fight for more recognition of private property rights,” said Miller.
Miller said he believes provincial law requires municipalities to enact the land use designations.
“Really, their (the association’s) fight should be with the provincial government,” Miller said.
Miller said the conservative election platform includes compensation for landowners when there is a change of existing use of their land. Miller said he will be working on a petition to protect private landowner’s rights.
During Monday’s meeting, Madill continued to argue that local level governments are not required to establish official plans.
She and association president Carey-Anne Oke-Cook claimed Dufferin County did not establish an official plan as it was in the best interest of their constituents.
“If it (no official plan) can happen in Dufferin (county), where the local municipality rejects that OP (official plan) out of the interest of the constituents in Dufferin, it can happen here,” said Oke-Cook.
When contacted by telephone, Dufferin County clerk Pam Hillock said the reason the county does not have an official plan is because there is no planning department as an upper-tier municipality. She added the lower eight municipalities have their own official plans.
District chair Gord Adams said the trail closures would not work at the municipal level because the local government cannot remove the official plans.
He also disagreed with the landowner’s actions in closing trails.
“It is unfortunate this is the tactic that they take, taking an action that will hurt all of their neighbours that work in the tourism industry in the wintertime,” said Adams.
Adams continued to argue that there would not be support from district council to remove official plan land use designations.
He added that the district would support the snowmobile associations in rerouting trails on public land, if necessary.
Madill said the next step from the landowners association is to wait.
“We have put our local governments on notice … we are hoping the next step is that the government will come to us and tell us what they are going to do because it is now in their court,” said Madill.
Madill encourages the public to bring their concerns to all levels of government.
For up-to-date information on the status of local snowmobile trails, see the OFSC website www.ofsc.on.ca.
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