People in Sask. municipality upset about 'draconian' plan to permanently ban trailers on lakeshore properties

Ryan Martin's summer vacation plans went like this:

The Lloydminster-area oilfield subcontractor was going to pack his wife Leanne and three young kids into his pickup truck and drive north to Bright Sand Lake, in the Rural Municipality of Mervin.

The family co-owns a lot there, complete with camper, deck and underground plumbing.    

"It's a beautiful setup," said Martin. "We're about a minute walk down to the beach. Our own little piece of paradise."

Those getaway plans are on borrowed time, though.

The RM of Mervin changed its zoning bylaw last fall so that people living in trailers or campers have to apply for a $200 permit to keep one, and only one, trailer on their Bright Sand Lake and Turtle Lake properties.

But it would only be a temporary situation for some: By Jan. 1, 2024, all trailers need to be off the lot unless there's a home or cabin on the property too. If not, the owners could face a daily fine of $5,000 upon summary conviction, according to information the RM has shared publicly.

Lot owners who already live in a cabin or house need not go through the process, according to the RM.

"We're basically being forced to sell this lot," said Martin, who has no cabin and who only came by his property last July. "We would have to spend tens of thousands of dollars just to redevelop the lot.

"They have it set up for a building they want us to build. [We can't] afford to build a cabin by 2024, I can tell you that right now."

'Overbearing law is coming down on people'

Martin's not alone.

According to Rod Sellers, who sells RVs to people in the area, the situation affects dozens. Not Sellers — he has a cabin on his lot now, having gradually upscaled from a small trailer 40 years ago — but he can relate.

"Most people start out with a small RV on a lawn," Sellers said. "And through the years they gradually improve their situation and usually end up building a cabin on the property.

"But of course most people can't afford that right off the bat, especially when they have young families and they're just trying to get by.

"Now this Draconian, overbearing law is coming down on people."

What the RM is saying 

The bylaw amendments came into effect last November, following public consultation that began in August 2017 with email correspondence with organized hamlet representatives. 

CBC Saskatoon requested an interview with the RM of Mervin reeve, a councillor or an RM administrator on Tuesday. No one was available — council was meeting — so the RM sent a three-page statement via email.

Lakeshore developments within the municipality were always intended for cabin development, the RM said. 

Over the last eight years, the RM has received "a number of complaints" about people placing "numerous" recreational vehicles (RVs), as many as seven, on lakeshore developments. 

"[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. 

The bylaw change was made to actually make things more lenient for RV owners, according to the RM — at least until 2024. The new permitting system at least allows people to have an RV for the next five years, after which the RM will forcibly remove the RV should it remain on the property (if there's no cabin or home built by then). 

The intent of the amendment was "to provide individuals with time to determine how they would like to proceed with private development within the municipality."

Other municipalities have "proceeded directly to immediate enforcement of removal of RVs," the RM added. "Council [here] deemed this to be too strict."

Money, it's a gas 

RVs are not assessed by the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency and so are not taxable, the RM said.

Sellers said the RM could just charge annual fees to make up for that.

"They could charge literally thousands of dollars in permit fees for RVs to be on lots if they so choose," Sellers said.

No so, said the RM.

"Provincial licensing for RVs under the Municiplaities Act does not allow for the arbitrary assignment of a 'tax' on RVs, and any licensing amount can only cover the cost of administration."

'Discouraged' after public meeting

Sellers attended a public meeting hosted by the RM and council last summer.

He left the meeting feeling "discouraged."

"The room was packed — 40 or 50 people that were all opposed to this new bylaw," Sellers said. (The RM said only 24 people showed up.)

"We were allowed to say our piece but we weren't allowed to ask questions. And the councillors and the RM did not offer any feedback whatsoever as to the points that were being brought up. They just sat there and listened."

Lawyers? Check

Last month, Martin got a notice from the RM warning him about having two unpermitted trailers on his lot. (The other trailer belongs to Martin's neighbours, with whom he scraped money together to buy the property.)

Residents are being asked to sign and return a memorandum of understanding agreeing to comply by the new trailer rules.

"They way they worded letters has scared everybody into signing," said Martin.

Martin won't sign. Both he and Sellers have retained lawyers to help them navigate the situation. And Martin has started a Facebook group to pool together people's thoughts.

"I feel better now as I talk to people and [realize] here's so many people on the same boat," he said.

Martin is worried the situation will cause a flurry of lots to be put up for sale, flooding the market and bringing everyone's prices down.

Sellers is worried too. He admits to some self-interest — he profits from the sale of trailers, after all — but he's getting his own lawyer both because he sympathizes with the young property owners he once resembled and because there's more than just his own pocketbook on the line.

"Not only our income but the 20 employees and their families that we have. So it's not just us."