Caledon bylaw team in ongoing battle with property owners allegedly using land illegally

September 29, 2022 · 0 Comments

Illegal trucking yards on land zoned as agricultural a major concern

By Zachary Roman

Earlier this year, Caledon’s bylaw enforcement team went to the site of an alleged illegal trucking yard.

John DeCourcy, Caledon’s Manager of Municipal Law Enforcement, said trucks were illegally using a laneway to access the yard, which itself is on land that’s zoned for agricultural use.

So, the bylaw team brought cement barriers to block the laneway. As they were installing the barriers, DeCourcy said people from the illegal trucking yard came outside, made a deal with the property behind them, and started cutting down a fence that would allow them to circumvent the barriers. Since DeCourcy said cutting the fence was not a bylaw infraction, the team just had to watch it happen and was unable to do anything.

This is an example of what Caledon’s bylaw team deals with, said DeCourcy, and while charges are before the court against that illegal trucking yard and others like it, he said it takes time for a decision to come down.

“We’ve got a dedicated group of prosecutors who are doing an outstanding job presenting our cases in court,” said DeCourcy. “COVID created a lot of delays, but we are starting to get cases to move through court.”

The Town has received complaints from residents about “doing nothing” when it comes to enforcing land use bylaws.

As well, some candidates running for municipal office in Caledon’s upcoming election have expressed their desire to increase bylaw enforcement. DeCourcy said in the case of illegal trucking yards, people will see a property still operating illegally while charges are against it in court.

While DeCourcy said the Town can’t charge a property on zoning bylaw infractions again while they’re in court fighting the property on a zoning infraction, they can return to the property frequently and see if they find other bylaws — such as those relating to clean yards or fill — being broken.

DeCourcy started working for the Town about a year and a half ago after a career in policing. He explained when he was brought on by the Town, one of his mandates was to head an illegal land use task force. The task force consists of members of Caledon’s bylaw department, planning department, and a legal team.

When DeCourcy began working with the Town, the trucking yard mentioned above was still a cornfield, which, of course, was a permitted use of the land since it’s zoned as agricultural.

DeCourcy said it is worrying the amount of fill and trucks being put on what’s supposed to be agricultural land, as harmful substances could leach into the ground.

“It’s definitely not being used as what it was sold as,” said DeCourcy. “I’m sure there’s a lot of responsible (truckers) that if they knew they were parking and paying rent [on an illegal property] they wouldn’t want to park there. I don’t know what the sales pitch is by the property owners to get them to park there, but in fairness to those parking there, they may not be aware of it.”

DeCourcy said he’s heard property owners are charging truckers around $500 a month to park on their illegal lots, something he said adds up quickly when you consider the amount of trucks parked on the lands.

DeCourcy said Caledon is made up of a variety of different jurisdictions, including Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) areas and Niagara Escarpment areas, as well as regional roads. He explained the Town has to maintain good working relationships with those responsible for those areas, as the Town’s bylaw team does not have the power to enforce bylaws on TRCA lands, for example.

“We find that occurring a lot with our fill violations. And this is where people are bringing dump truck loads of fill in, whether it be soil, sand, asphalt, or just rocks. And if they dump it on a piece of property that is identified as TRCA, we have limited abilities to conduct any enforcement on that,” said DeCourcy. “But if it was just, you know, maybe a couple of metres in a different direction, it may be Caledon’s jurisdiction where we have full enforcement capabilities.”

No matter what jurisdiction a bylaw infraction is found in, DeCourcy said residents will naturally report a bylaw infraction in Caledon to Caledon’s bylaw team. He said bylaw relies on Caledon residents to let them know about problems and the team is always thankful to receive tips.

Even if an infraction is not in Caledon’s jurisdiction, DeCourcy said the Town will do everything they can to help enforce it.

“We encourage the residents to call us if they see a violation, or even if it’s a questionable thing… we’ll come out, we’ll look and assess whether it is or isn’t (an infraction),” said DeCourcy. “We do benefit a lot from the residents, they have been doing a great job bringing things to our attention.”

Even Brampton residents will call Caledon bylaw, said DeCourcy, since illegal trucking yards along Mayfield Road impact both Brampton and Caledon residents. DeCourcy said 18-wheelers stopping on Mayfield Road to enter yards creates a big safety hazard for drivers and pedestrians alike, as well as the fact that it creates traffic.

In July, Councillor Jennifer Innis brought forward a motion to council to request the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry for enhanced enforcement tools regarding land use planning for lands that fall within the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act (NEPDA). This motion was carried unanimously by council, and Innis said in an interview afterwards she brought the motion forward due to the increased amount of bylaw infractions being reported in NEPDA jurisdiction.

Illegal trucking yards are what DeCourcy said are the biggest problem in Caledon when it comes to bylaw infractions. The Town is fighting the owners of multiple yards in court, and DeCourcy said in some cases the Town is seeking injunctions in order to be more aggressive in their fight.

DeCourcy said convictions are more important than fines, because at first fines might not be enough to bring a property into compliance.

However, if a property owner is convicted and still operating non-compliantly, the Town can then go back and charge them again for the same thing, leading to higher and higher fines. DeCourcy said the Town recently had a victory where they were able to fine a non-compliant property owner $1 million.

“When you get that type of ruling, hopefully other properties that are operating in the same manner see that and that might be a deterrent for them,” said DeCourcy.