By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Ontario Government is set to introduce a change to the Planning Act that would enable municipalities to impose administrative monetary penalties (AMPS) for illegal land uses.

The amounts would be set by individual municipalities, subject to legal constraints, and are intended to promote compliance with local by-laws. 

These changes to the Planning Act were said to help prevent illegal land uses, including for trucks and the operation of commercial trucking activities on land not zoned for industrial use.

“We intend to give municipalities the authority to impose administrative monetary penalties on individuals or corporations who contravene zoning by-laws,” said Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, at the May 20 press conference in Caledon. “You have to follow the rules.”

“Truckers and trucking companies are an important part of our economy. They keep Ontario's economy moving. We need them. They just have to play by the rules.” said Flack.

Flack said this proposed legislation would save municipal partners both time and money, reducing the time and effort that's needed to go to court. 

He noted the toll that illegal truck yards take on communities, citing noise, odours, excessive lighting, and adverse effects on agricultural lands.

Currently, municipalities can prosecute offenders who contravene zoning bylaws, but doing so requires significant staff time and may take years to resolve in court. 

Municipalities can now immediately address these issues through AMPS.

The AMPS can be assigned to the land title, property owner, or corporation.

Flack added the AMPS are designed to enforce compliance proportional to the offence, “the fine has to match the crime.”

“This has been an issue that's been a long-standing issue for us here in this community,” said Mayor Annette Groves, noting a time when Caledon was battling 300 illegal truck yards.

“Not only does it have an impact on our quality of life here, but it certainly has an impact on our roads,” said Groves. “We fought for change…we raised it at AMO, we raised it at ROMA, and we are so proud of the work that the community did.”

“This was one of the key areas that we had to target to ensure we got everyone into compliance,” said Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation. “If you do it the right way, there is a benefit to doing that. If you're doing it the wrong way, the full force of the law will be applied.”

“Illegal truck yards have been a major concern for residents across Caledon, disrupting rural communities, damaging local roads and threatening the integrity of our agricultural land,” said Sylvia Jones, MPP for Dufferin-Caledon. 

“These proposed changes would give municipalities the stronger enforcement tools they need to crack down on unlawful land uses, protect our communities and preserve the farmland that is so important to our region.”

Alan Boughton, who sits on the Illegal Land Use Task Force, said they've seen too low of fines that also remain unpaid, either switching ownership or moving to another yard.

“The only way we're going to have a positive effect is to put the maximum fines on for the repeat offenders, attach it to the tax roll, so that if they go to flip the land out to somebody else, you've got to discharge the fine on the tax roll before you can do the transfer. It's really that simple,” says Boughton.

“The fines have to be such a major deterrent to stop them from doing what they're doing, and it has to be attached to the tax law.”