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Because you want to isn’t a good enough reason

Public land is exactly that and it should not be used as an extension of one’s private property. Period.

Public land is exactly that and it should not be used as an extension of one’s private property. Period.
At the last County of Barrhead council meeting, county manager Debbie Oyarzun outlined her plan to red tag items that don’t belong on its municipal reserve lands, the 30-metre protective strip surrounding the lake, which purpose is to provide a buffer between residential property and sensitive ecological areas.
Basically, that means, almost anything a person sees that is on the municipal reserve lands, will be flagged whether it is a boathouse, fire pit, storage shed, et cetera, unless they have already received permission from the county.
One of the reasons Oyarzun believes these items are there is that there is some confusion with property owners and renters about the rules, rights and responsibilities because not everyone has the “same understanding of the rules, responsibilities, and rights of property owners and if an area is reserve land or bed and shore.”
Really? Although we can possibly understand there might be some confusion on possibly where a person can build a dock, from our understanding, as well as taking our own tour after receiving similar complaints, mostly through anonymous letters, are about people who are simply using public land as if it is their own and we don’t believe they don’t know the rules or where their property ends and the reserve land begins.
How many landowners or tenants really don’t know where their property ends?
We would wager there are not too many.
So why then are there so many semi-permanent items on the county’s municipal reserve lands? When it boils down to it, the answer is because they want to.
We don’t think this is a good enough reason.
Coun. Darrell Troock and Oyarzun suggested the community could come up with their own solution or guidelines of what is and isn’t allowable on public lands.
Yes, by allowing the community to largely come up with its own rules might result in a better buy-in from residents and avoid potential conflict with the county, but then again it might not.
It also opens up a myriad of other questions and problems. Remember whatever the community decides, it is still public land and whatever is on it needs to be available for the general public to use. Think of the lands as a public park and how many parks do you know that allow residents to store or use equipment for their private use? There can’t be many if there are at all and probably for good reasons.
In our opinion the best option is the simplest one — keep your belongings on your own property. For those who choose not to, the county should enforce its bylaw and start issuing tickets and/or removal orders.


Barry Kerton

About the Author: Barry Kerton

Barry Kerton is the managing editor of the Barrhead Leader, joining the paper in 2014. He covers news, municipal politics and sports.
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