ATV /ORV Use
Currently the Township of Oro-Medonte has a By-law that permits the use, with conditions, of ATVs on
specific roads from January 1st to March 15th. See the attached By-law (2013-203).
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 Hwy 11 south for winter recreation.
Each option outlined associated considerations and a recommended approach for Council's consideration.
Recognizing previous pilot programs and by-laws 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 taskforce consisting of two (2) Councillors, the Mayor as ex-officio and staff resources as required. The Taskforce's mandate is to draft conditions and parameters regarding ATV/ORV use, to draft a by-law, and a communication plan which are to come back before Council on April 25, 2018.
The Taskforce met on April 5, 2018 and developed guiding principles to structure the by-law. Further, the Taskforce recommended a draft by-law 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.
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 webpage.
Public comments can be submitted as per the Procedural By-law in the following ways:
Deputations to Council
- Please note a maximum of three (3) deputations are permitted per Council meeting. For the April 25, 2018 Council Meeting, all deputations permitted are scheduled. No additional deputations will be approved for this date.
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 3:00 PM the day before the meeting. The deadline to receive correspondence to be included on the April 25, 2018 Agenda is by 3:00 PM on Tuesday, April 24, 2018.
- Via email: jteeter@oro-medonte.ca
- Via mail or in person: 148 Line 7 S, Oro-Medonte ON L0L 2E0
