by Hannah MacLeod

Many residents of Huron-Kinloss have concerns about a recently proposed by-law which would regulate the parking of trailers in residential areas.
“It’s combining our existing rules about the parking of trailers from the Township’s Zoning By-law with some new controls that would address reoccurring complaints we have received of the past few years,” explained Heather Falconer, who prepared the draft.
Some of these concerns include multiple trailers being stored on a property, use of trailers leading to gatherings and excessive noise or habituation. Concerns of safety, maintenance, storage and illegal activity have also been brought up.
“It is also meant to give us more tools when working to gain compliance,” she continued. “It’s not meant to punish residents that store and use their trailers responsibly; however I can understand why people are viewing it in that way.”
The by-law aims to provide more clarity as to what the rules are, which will allow staff to only fine the worst offenders.
The Draft Trailer By-law regulates that:
Only three trailers may be parked outside of a building on a lot at any one time
A trailer shall not be parked in the front yard of a lot, unless it is on a driveway for the purpose of actively loading recreational vehicles on that trailer.
A trailer shall be parked in the rear yard or interior side yard of a lot no closer than one metre to the lot line.
No trailer shall be parked on a lot owned by the Township without consent
A trailer must be owned by the owner or long-term lessee of the lot on which it is parked.
A trailer parked on a lot shall not be serviced by water unless that trailer’s water storage tank is actively being filled.
A trailer parked on a lot shall not be connected to or use a sewage system.
No derelict trailer shall be parked on a lot
No trailer shall be parked on a lot and used for occupancy
At the July 4 Council meeting they came to a mutual decision to ask for public input before proceeding.
“When staff sees issues like this that are happening more frequently, we bring it to Council’s attention and propose ways of dealing with the matters,” explained Falconer. “What we presented was a draft that we thought may serve this purpose, but we also support Council’s decision to get more public input.”
“The Township’s enforcement approach is not changing so if you haven’t heard for us in the past, you shouldn’t hear from us in the future,” she continued. “We want a better process for controlling the bad actors, many of whom we are already dealing with.”
Council and staff wants to hear more from the public, so they are asking for feedback from residents through https://www.haveyoursayhk.ca.
“We have received a lot of differing comments at this point so we know this may take some time to get right,” Falconer said “We expect that Council won’t want another draft by-law brought forward until everyone is heard.”
Should the by-law pass, a set fine of $250 per infraction was recommended by staff.
It will be outlined in the next week how the public consultation will be conducted.