'I call it Camper Land': Cabin owners defend Sask. municipality's plan to ban trailers
New rules will address noise, overcrowding and tax disparity concerns, lakeshore landowners say
Some cabin owners are defending a region's plan to eventually ban trailers along lakeshore properties, saying it will protect against noisy neighbours and overcrowding.
Last fall, the Rural Municipality of Mervin changed its zoning bylaw so that landowners living in trailers or campers have to apply for a $200 permit to keep a trailer on their Bright Sand Lake and Turtle Lake properties, northwest of Battleford.
All trailers need to be off the lots by Jan. 1, 2024, unless there's a home or cabin on the property by then. If not, the owners could face a daily fine of $5,000 upon summary conviction, according to information the RM has shared publicly.
Trailer owners called the measures "draconian."
Ratepayers who live in cabins say the new rules address longstanding concerns, including fears about declining property values.
"I call it Camper Land," said Jack Klamot, a controller at an oilfield service company in Lloydminster and a cabin dweller who's owned a property on the west side of Turtle Lake for eight years.
"I have several hundred thousand dollars invested in my property and I have had campers around me. What does that do for my value of my property should I choose to try and sell it?"
'They're loud from 6 a.m.'
Noise is a concern too. Klamot said none of his immediate neighbours cause issues, but one in a nearby area does.
"They will bring all their friends, and not just for a weekend," Klamot said. "They'll be camping there for the month of July, let's say. And there's many children, there's boats. There's all kinds of traffic on one particular property.
"And they're loud. They're loud from 6:00 a.m. till when they go to bed, which some days can be 2:00 a.m."
The municipality said that, in recent years, it's taken "enforcement action" against "several" landowners who had three to seven campers or trailers on their lots.
""[It] was creating safety hazards due to roadway sight lines, excessive parking of trucks and boat trailers on municipal road allowances and creating safety hazards for children," the RM said.
"You get four or five, six vehicles in there and, you know, the lots aren't that big," said Perry Bateman, another cabin owner in the area.
Equal paying field
Bateman, like Klamot, said it's unfair for him to pay property taxes on his cabin while trailer owners pay nothing on their campers.
According to the municipality, campers aren't appraised by the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency and therefore aren't taxable.
"A bare lot is about $700 a year and I pay way more than that for my cabin lot," said Bateman, who's had a cabin and a garage on his lot since 2011.
The RM said provincial law allows it to impose licensing fees on trailer owners, but those fees "can only cover the cost of the administration of the fee (i.e. $50 to $100 per licence)."
Area set aside for RVs
The RM also pointed out that it created a new "recreational vehicle district" in 2016 for people who don't intend to build a cabin.
"That allows for the permanent placement of an RV or park model on privately-owned lot without any requirement of any formal residential construction," the RM said.
Bateman said he is somewhat sympathetic to the trailer owners. Camping spots are hard to come by a provincial parks, he said, and strict rules (like having to move your camper every two weeks) are in place at some parks.
But, he said, if you don't have rules, "when somebody gets hurt or run over, you know, it's not just open season."
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