This summer, Huntsville staff will be cracking down on docks that do not have permission to be located on municipal lands.
At its May 25 meeting, Huntsville council approved a revamped licence of occupation policy to deal with such docks in order to mitigate the municipality’s liability.
According to municipal staff, the Town currently owns 57 public docks that have signs noting that they’re for public use. They are maintained and insured by the municipality and are located at the Town dock (40 docks), at South Portage, Riverview Estates, Riverlea, Port Sydney Beach (2), Memorial Park (2), Longs Lake, Goodwin Park, Brunel Locks, Avery Beach (2), Lakewood Park, Roe Road (2), Cheese Dock in Port Sydney, and Lake Waseosa.
There are also eight private docks on municipal lands that are permitted through a licence of occupation.
Director of operations and protective services, Steve Hernen, explained to council that the owners of those private docks pay an annual fee, and are responsible for maintaining the docks to proper standards and naming the municipality in their homeowners’ insurance policy.
But there are other docks on public lands being used both privately and publicly that have not been approved by the Town. Those are the docks staff are trying to address.
Docks erected on municipal lands for private use will have to comply with the municipality’s policies. The owners, who must own adjacent property, will have to apply for a licence of occupation, ensure their dock complies with municipal standards, name the municipality on their insurance, and pay an annual fee, said Hernen.
“We would provide a letter giving them 30 days to apply for a licence of occupation. Once the application is filed, it’ll go through the process and will either be approved, and they’ll have to pay the fees and insurance and maintain it. If it’s not approved, they’ll have to remove the dock,” he added. “If we post [a notice] on the dock and nobody comes forth to claim ownership of it, we would simply remove the dock, and that would be the process we’d follow.”
Hernen estimated that there are approximately 15 or 16 private docks on municipal lands that have not undergone the licence of occupation process, and said more had been brought to light since the staff report was compiled. If they’re added to the eight the municipality already has on its books, he said they could generate $20,000 to $25,000 in annual revenue. That revenue could offset the cost of taking on more public docks.
Hernen said if docks have been erected on public lands that are being used by the public they will not require a licence of occupation, but those who built them or use them would have to go before council and make a case for their approval. If they’re approved, the municipality would take ownership of them, maintain them, insure them, and post signage noting that they’re for public access. Likewise, the same procedure would apply if community members want a dock on municipal lands: they’d have to seek council approval.
“That way we’re maintaining a level of standard, a level of care which would reduce our liability,” said Hernen.
“The bottom line is dock season is here. We need an approval process to deal with these docks on public land in order that we can take action to limit the Town’s exposure,” he added. “I can tell you right now, between these public docks and these private docks, they’re sitting on Town property and in total we’re probably sitting in excess of 20 of these docks today that we’re aware of… If something happens on them today, the Town could be held liable because we are aware of them and we haven’t taken action to date.”
Councillor Jonathan Wiebe questioned whether the 30-day rule was hard and fast. He said even if no one claims the dock, council might decide that it’s a good place to have one for public use.
“What staff is thinking is we post a dock that’s on public property and they have to get council permission. We hope that somebody from the community in a 30-day period—we’re not posting in January, they’ll be posted in June and July—somebody would come forth to council and make that request on behalf of the community that it’s a good access point, and this is the reason why that dock is there, and here’s the benefits of it and council would make a decision on it,” said Hernen. “We recognize it’s going to take some time to get in front of council so that 30-day rule is not hard as long as we know that an application has been made to delegate before council, we would sort of put the brakes on anything of the removal until council had a chance to hear from the applicant.”
Councillor Jason FitzGerald questioned what would happen to those who’ve had a dock for many years and have, for example, made a deal with the Town in exchange for parking. “Keeping in mind that if… staff is going to bring forth a report denying a dock, we’ll certainly indicate the reasoning why and it’s always up to council,” said Hernen, adding that if council want to overrule a staff recommendation it is certainly within its rights.
Council approved the policy change.
You can find staff’s PowerPoint presentation here (PDF).
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I have been in contact with the town employees. There is no policy regarding the local community to access water fronts. This is not acceptable. I’ve been to most of the public dock sites and definitely see problems. I’m not sure the town can count the dock at the locks because it is mainly used for boats going through the locks. I did swim there as a teenager but it’s not a good place to take children for a swim. In fact, I would say it’s dangerous as the boats have the right of way. Not the people.
Thanks Tamara for the links! I have read it twice and have no issue with the policy. However, it does not define what constitutes a dock re size. My point was calling the Roe Road access two docks is misleading and overly inflated the number of public docks available for local residents to use. If a dock is one segment only then the private docks down there are also two or three docks and the language in the policy only references dock in the singular. Who regulates that? Who regulates alteration to public shoreline that has occurred? These are some of the issues that the public has a right to answers to!
Like Ryan Vallentin, I live locally and like to use town docks /water access points to launch my kayak. In the article, generalized locations are provided and I am wondering if there is a list of specific locations? Knowing there is a town dock on a particular road is great but knowing exactly where to go would be helpful. Thanks very much.
Hello Leonard,
Here is the licence of occupation policy changes presented at Huntsville council’s May 25 meeting, which applies to all private encroachments on public lands (i.e. docks).
https://huntsvilleon.civicweb.net/document/46023/Licence%20of%20Occupation%20-%20With%20Amends-Feb%2024%20General.pdf?handle=A2FA156529C14A82AD897F40E871D5F1
You can also find staff’s PowerPoint presentation regarding the different types of docks in the community by clicking on the link at the bottom of the story (it’s a PDF).
Thank you for reading Doppler.
If the town is counting that small dock as two (it is actually two sections joined together) then the private docks have to be counted as two and three docks. Does their contract allow one dock or multiple docks? If only one dock then the others have to be removed! Please check it out for yourselves! Also check out the town dock policy on the town website if you can find it please let me know.
Good morning Jim,
As per municipal staff, there are two docks in one location across from 270 Roe Road.
Is there an answer to Leonard’s question regarding # of docks at Roe Road ?
Hey Nancy,
I’m a local and I use the town dock(s) to launch my kayak all the time, don’t be chased away by the cottagers, most won’t bite!
Illegal , unassumed docks are a tremendous risk for unwary users and the taxpayers of this Community . Insurance rates for municipalities have been increasing steadily for years along with litigation by users of Town facilities and properties .Get rid of them now !
I know there are public access areas (often little known and undetected from the road) to lakefront in Huntsville residential communities. I did notice a new dock recently on one.
My question is if an adjacent owner obtains approved license for a dock ( or grooms the area to blend in to their adjacent property which is often the case) does that mean the public can be barred to the public access? I don’t know if this happens in Huntsville but I know it has in other municipalities. Too often these public accesses especially the ones with very narrow frontage become “private” though the land is public municipally owned. Access to originally dedicated water access areas in residential neighbourhoods should remain accessible for local residents who are not living on waterfront to go for a swim or slip a kayak or canoe into the water and these areas should be protected as such.
In at least one case that directly affects us a dock has been placed at a right of way access point on our lake (Fairy Lake) that we all used to access the ice to snowmobile. It has taken away our access point to the ice unless we where to drive our snowmobile down the dock and build a snow bridge to get down to the ice.
Further the people in question are now floating a swim raft out into the lake in front of the dock potentially interfering with boat traffic.
Nancy, I am not sure if it is allowed or not, but I see people swimming and fishing from the town docks throughout the season every year. Not a lot mind you, but there is steady use (mostly high school students and younger kids). The docks are also used by some festivals and events – but as you say, they are mainly for boaters. They are also used for the Algonquin Outfitters rentals – which I think is great.
I realize now that the town dock is being counted as 40. Let’s face reality. These docks are mainly for people who have boats and are visiting town. The town 40 docks aren’t for swimming or fishing.
There is only one public dock on Roe Road unless someone has donated a private one to the town. The one public dock is the smallest dock there for use of over 60 households and crowding can be a safety issue!
Hi Nancy,
There are 57, according to the Town. The number of docks is noted for each location (except where there is only one, in which case
just the name has been noted). Here’s that paragraph again:
“According to municipal staff, the Town currently owns 57 public docks that have signs noting that they’re for public use. They are maintained and insured by the municipality and are located at the Town dock (40 docks), at South Portage, Riverview Estates, Riverlea, Port Sydney Beach (2), Memorial Park (2), Longs Lake, Goodwin Park, Brunel Locks, Avery Beach (2), Lakewood Park, Roe Road (2), Cheese Dock in Port Sydney, and Lake Waseosa.”
I read your article about public docks. It said there were 40 but I only counted 17 in your repot. I wonder if we can can the locations of the rest of them.