Town appoints members of Illegal Land Use Task Force

Task force will tackle illegal trucking yards, event centres and more

By ZACHARY ROMAN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Caledon officially has a new task force to deal with illegal land use. 

On October 22, Caledon Council officially appointed the members of the Town's new Illegal Land Use Task Force (ILUTF). 

Council first made the decision to create the task force back in June. Over the summer, it ran a recruitment campaign for the ILUTF, and now eight community representatives will be sitting on the ILUTF for the remainder of the 2022-2026 term of Council.

According to a Town of Caledon, the ILUTF will, through collaborative efforts with Town staff, subject matter experts and community stakeholders, “prioritize community well-being (and) methods to enhance enforcement strategies, and advocate for policy changes to protect public health, safety and environmental well-being.”

In addition to the eight community members, Ward 3 Councillor Doug Maskell and Ward 5 Councillor Tony Rosa have been appointed to participate in the ILUTF.

One of the ILUTF's main goals is to advocate to higher levels of government for assistance in dealing with illegal land use. It is set to begin meeting this fall and provide its first update to Council in 2025.

Joel Assaly, a Municipal Law Enforcement analyst for the Town of Caledon, has noted a concerning rise in illegal parking and storage of tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles in Caledon.

In staff reports, he's noted there seems to be a blatant disregard for regulations in the Town of Caledon and that harsher fines are needed to discourage illegal activities.

Also on October 22, a letter from Mayor Annette Groves to Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca was presented on the Council agenda. 

The letter discussed opportunities for partnership between the two municipalities to fight illegal land use. 

“The dramatic increase in illegal land use, specifically around truck and container yards along and near our shared border, has raised significant concerns for resident safety and wellbeing, including congestion, noise, air quality and quality of life,” said Mayor Groves in the letter. “These yards are also a visual blight on the landscape along our boundary.

“Our enforcement teams collaborate regularly, and I know senior staff from Caledon, Vaughan and Brampton will be meeting later this week to coordinate efforts… the time is now to galvanize our partnership, both at the staff and political levels, to advance changes to the Municipal Act and the Provincial Planning Statement to combat illegal land use. We know the Province will be taking steps to empower municipalities to address bad actors in these industries. Let's focus on working together to accelerate action that improves the well-being of the people we serve.”

Those looking for more information on Caledon's fight against illegal land use can visit caledon.ca/illegallanduse.