NEWS RELEASE
TOWNSHIP OF ORO-MEDONTE
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Currently the Township of Oro-Medonte has a bylaw that permits the use, with conditions, of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and off-road vehicles (ORVs) on specific roads from January 1 to March 15. See the attached bylaw (2013-203).
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
March 28, 2018
At its meeting of March 28, 2018 council received a presentation from the Highway Safety Division of the Ontario Provincial Policy (OPP) and a staff report (OCS 2018-11) in response to a request to open up roadways for ATV/ORVs. The report outlined background on legislation, previous and current by-laws, and key considerations relating to the request.
Three options were presented to Council, notably:
Permit use on roadways;
Consider access to certain roadways to establish regional trail network;
Update existing bylaw to reflect changes in legislation continuing with seasonal permissions to access Lake Simcoe from Highway 11 south for winter recreation.
Each option outlined associated considerations and a recommended approach for council's consideration.
Recognizing previous pilot programs and bylaws in other County of Simcoe municipalities, Council passed a motion to support, in principle, the use of ATV/ORVs on Township roadways on a one (1) year trial basis and established a task force consisting of two (2) Councillors, the Mayor as ex-officio and staff resources as required. The Task force's mandate is to draft conditions and parameters regarding ATV/ORV use, to draft a bylaw, and a communication plan which are to come back before Council on April 25, 2018.
April 5, 2018
The Task force met on April 5, 2018 and developed guiding principles to structure the by-law. Further, the Task force recommended a draft bylaw which would provide two (2) option identified in separate schedules:
1. Access on all municipal roads (with certain exceptions);
2. Access to certain road segments to establish regional trail network in addition to existing winter recreation permissions.
April 11, 2018
At its meeting of April 11, 2018 Council endorsed the guiding principles and requested that the information regarding the draft by-laws (one [1] for each option noted above) for consideration on April 25, 2018 be communicated through the Township's website under the Public Notices section, and through social media channels with a direct link to the Township web page.
April 25, 2018
During the Council Meeting of April 25, 2018, Council heard three (3) deputations and comments from multiple individuals during Open Forum regarding the use of ATV/ORVs on municipal roadways. Additionally, over fifty (50) pieces of correspondence were received, which had been submitted by interested members of the public since the April 11, 2018 council meeting.
After hearing comments, reviewing submitted correspondence, and discussing the report presented by the ATV/ORV Task force, Council continues to weigh the options of opening all roadways within the Township of Oro-Medonte's legal jurisdiction, this would exclude county, provincial and boundary roadways; along with the option of only permitting roadway access to as established trail network, which has yet to be established.
At the conclusion of the debate, Council directed staff to bring back a draft bylaw that would explore the option of allowing ATV/ORVs to access all municipal roadways within Wards 2, 4 and 5; and to allow for ATV/ORV access to roadways which only allow for the connection to trail networks within Wards 1 and 3.
The proposed draft bylaw will require significant analysis and legal review prior to being presented to council at a future meeting date, which has yet to be determined.
Public comments can be submitted as per the procedural bylaw in the following ways:
Deputations to Council: Please note a maximum of three (3) deputations are permitted per Council meeting.
Open Forum: Speakers are welcome to speak for a maximum of two (2) minutes each, for a total time of twenty (20) minutes in all.
Written Correspondence: Any person may submit written correspondence to be included on a council agenda in relation to a listed item. Correspondence must be received by 3 p.m. the day before the meeting.
Via email: [email protected]
Via mail or in person: 148 Line 7 S, Oro-Medonte ON L0L 2E0
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