The question of whether or not you’d need a licence to pitch a tent in your yard in South Bruce Peninsula is being looked at by council.
They are considering whether they should change the Town’s tent and trailer bylaw.
Right now, the Town’s 2001/ 2002 bylaw doesn’t allow tents or trailers to be used on any property other than places that are zoned for campgrounds, (unless you’re building a home).
South Bruce Peninsula includes the communities of Sauble Beach and Wiarton as well as smaller communities in a section of the Bruce Peninsula from roughly Allenford to Pike Bay.
Most recently, Council discussed revisiting the bylaw at its September 17th meeting.
Deputy Mayor Caleb Hull said, “The reason I wanted to re-discuss this bylaw was specifically out of the express desire for people to tent with family and friends in their own yards. I want to be able to encourage people to enjoy nature through backyard camping.”
“Simply put, people want the option of being able to camp in a tent. Small-scale short-term tent camping should be allowed without the need for registration,” said Hull.
Hull said, “There needs to be a legal doorway for citizens to be able to take in our dark skies, to gain further appreciation for nature and enjoy time together outside while camping at home.”
He says the question of trailers is more complex, given their possible complications with burdens on a septic system, and other considerations.
Director of Legislative Services & Clerk Angie Cathrae gave a report to council, outlining past discussion on the subject. The report says in November 2023, staff went to council to see if council was interested in updating the bylaw to strengthen it. Council directed staff to use the Town’s ‘Open Mic’ page on its website to put the question to residents.
The Town staff report says the Open Mic survey had 206 responses. To the question of whether tents and trailers should be allowed outside of campgrounds, 165 respondents said ‘yes,’ 25 of them said ‘no,’ and 16 said ‘maybe.’
Most respondents did feel there should be a maximum number of tents or trailers allowed, and most did not feel there should be a licensing fee.
Mayor Jay Kirkland said, “We’ve usually in the past, turned a blind eye to the overnight or the weekend and the grandparents having kids with their trailers and I understand some people just feel they’re breaking the law when they’re doing that.”
Councillor Paul Deacon agreed with Deputy Mayor Hull, saying, “The average person, on a whim, you’ve got kids coming up you want to pitch a tent and now you’ve got to get a licence, pay additional fees— it just becomes problematic.”
During the course of the discussion, Cathrae shared the opinion, “If you did not want it to be licensed, I guarantee you, it would be tent and trailer city everywhere and we would get lots of complaints.” Cathrae didn’t provide further information to support that claim.
Cathrae added, “If you wanted to do a licensing program, I do believe that the uptake on it once it’s permitted, would be large. So there are considerations with regard to staffing, so I really believe we would need another staff member to police it. It’s a very large municipality with a lot of places where people could be erecting tents and trailers without their licence.”
Cathrae’s report explains, if there was a licensing program it would need to address rentals, length of stay, the number of tents or trailers, sewage disposal, and hiring enforcement staff.
Further complicating the discussion, and ultimately delaying it, is a concern that allowing more tents, trailers or yurts could add to soil and water contamination.
A staff report notes Bruce County is considering updating its official plan to address nitrates and nitrites and might include restrictions relating to alternative sewage disposal systems and possibly the restriction of Additional Dwelling Units in areas where nitrate studies would not support growth.
Health Canada says on its website, “Nitrate and nitrite are widespread in the environment.” They add, “The most common sources of these substances are human activities, including agricultural activities, wastewater treatment, and discharges from industrial processes and motor vehicles.” Health Canada says there are some health risks associated with nitrate and nitrite and there are recommended limits of its concentration in drinking water.
Town staff say, “The fear is that the majority of the built-up areas in South Bruce Peninsula would not be able to meet the nitrate requirements, thus eliminating the possibility of additional dwelling units in those areas. We feel that the addition of tents and trailers as dwelling units would further complicate this matter at this time. This may not be the appropriate time to attempt to amend the Zoning By-Law in this regard.”
Cathrae also said, “I really do need to see if a tent, in the traditional sense of a tent, not an expanded tent like a yurt or any other types of tent other than a traditional camping tent, if it doesn’t hold meaning in the zoning bylaw and I don’t require zoning bylaw amendments then it may be just as easy as amending the current bylaw and if council isn’t wanting any enforcement as far as licensing, then that’s fine and that’s easy as well.”
Council decided to wait and see if Bruce County places additional dwelling unit restrictions or nitrate restrictions into to its official plan before the tent and trailer bylaw is discussed again.
In the meantime, they directed staff to, “Begin the official plan and zoning bylaw amendment process if required in order to expand the area where tents only can be occupied in the Town of South Bruce Peninsula.
Depending on how the discussion with Bruce County Planning goes, staff are directed to bring back a report to council which would include provisions for updates to the tent and trailer bylaw to permit tents for council’s consideration.