Elk Point Enforcing Trailer Bylaw

The Town of Elk Point will start enforcing their holiday trailer bylaw. There has been a bylaw in place for a number of years to deal with where holiday/RV and utility trailers can be parked. For example trailers cannot be parked for an extended period of time on a public street. However, there are a number of trailers that are parked in these areas of the town that are not permitted. Thus, the Town will start enforcing the bylaw more heavily.

Councillor Lorne Young says this may not be a popular bylaw, but it is necessary, “we have a bylaw that’s been in place for years, but it probably hasn’t been enforced to the degree that it should have been.” Young explains this is mainly due to the town not receiving complaints from the residents, and not as many trailers parked on town property or streets, “typically, there was only action taken on it when there was a problem.” There has been too many abuses of the bylaw, so now the town must be more vigilant.

“Council has authorized the CAO (Ken Gwozdz) to follow the existing bylaw,” Young says there’s a warning before any fines are handed down. “First people will be notified if their trailer been on a street for too long. Then if they don’t move it, there will be a fine.”

Since the bylaw has been in place for a number of years, Council saw fit to look into if it needed updating, explains Young, “this is a bylaw that’s been on the books for many, many years. There may be portions of it that [council] may want to look at. We’ve directed Ken to take a look at the bylaw, bring it back to Council, so we can debate portions of it.”

“We can’t have trailers blocking roads, making impositions on neighbours, or making snow removal difficult,” Young says Council is sympathetic to the residents, “on the other hand we realize that a number of people in this town own recreational vehicles, and how do we deal with that? It’s trying to find a balance, and that’s what we are trying to do.”

The Town will be enforcing the existing bylaw, until the CAO, Ken Gwozdz, is able to review the document and make recommendations to Council. Young notes there is a trailer storage lot on the northeast side of town.