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Off-Road Vehicles By-law Public Consultation
The Township of North Dumfries By-law 3210-20 (Being a By-Law to Regulate the Operations of Off-Road Vehicles) prohibits off-road vehicles (ORVs) from operating on Township property, Township roads, sidewalks, and unopened road allowances within the Township of North Dumfries. On March 27, 2023, Council directed staff to provide a report on the options/implications associated with the provision of off-road vehicles on Township roads as it pertains to the Highway Traffic Act.
At the Committee of the Whole meeting on September 11, 2023, Township Council considered staff report BYLAW-11-2023 to initiate a public consultation and engagement process to solicit input from interested members of the community.
In summary of the staff report, the following three options were presented for Council’s consideration:
| Option #1 |
| Maintain the present position of not allowing ORVs on any roads within the jurisdiction of the Township of North Dumfries. This option to maintain the current by-law may discourage Township residents from driving ORVs in populated areas. Although By-law Enforcement staff have personally witnessed a few cases of people driving ORVs in Ayr, as an example, the occurrence is fairly limited. |
| Option #2 |
| Identify areas of the Township where ORVs may be permitted to operate on local roads. This would require an amendment to the existing By-law 3210-20 to account for the network where ORVs would be permitted. Direction from Council would be required as to where ORVs would be allowed. This option would involve naming every area that would allow or ban the use of ORVs. As this is a regulatory By-law, it is necessary to be specific as to where ORVs would be permitted. A general reference, such as excluding the settlement of Ayr, is not adequate. Listing specific road names or sections of a road would be required. It is also important to remember that ORVs are not allowed to operate within public highways under the jurisdiction of the Region of Waterloo so if Council were trying to establish the opportunity to link areas across the Township of North Dumfries, this could be hampered to some extent. |
| Option #3 |
| Rescind current By-law 3210-20. This would allow ORVs across the Township on all local roads. Option #3 would allow ORVs to operate on all Township roads within the Township of North Dumfries. The rules established in the Highway Traffic Act regulate the operator of the vehicle and the use of ORVs on municipal highways. Staff contacted adjacent municipalities and were advised that these municipalities do not have by-laws prohibiting ORVs. For example, the Township of Blandford-Blenheim rescinded their ORV By-law in June of this year after a request from a user group. It is important to consider that ORVs are not allowed to operate within public highways under the jurisdiction of the Region of Waterloo, so if Council attempted to link areas across the Township of North Dumfries, this could be hampered to some extent. |
Comments are due by 4:30 p.m. on October 20, 2023.
Provide input on the ORVs By-law
Please email feedback or comments about proposed By-law to the Township Clerk or call 519-632-8800 ext. 122. All comments received will be considered in a follow up staff report for the Council meeting scheduled on November 6, 2023.