By Tessa Swanton (Townson),
Bruce Peninsula Press
Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula (MNBP) Clerk, Alexandra Croce, brought forward a detailed report and new Comprehensive Land Policy for Council’s review at their February 9th Council Meeting. Since Council’s deferral of the policy governing the sale of shore road allowances in November 2024, Croce has been cataloging public requests to purchase shore road allowances under municipal authority, which now sits at 20 requests from 2025. Requests will be processed once a policy has been approved. She said, “There is a lot of interest from the public, it is very important that we process them [requests] properly.”
Outlined within Report No. C 26-05 is the procedure for purchasing an unopened or shore road allowance, like a planning application or Site Plan Control Agreement process. Croce explained that the requestor must complete an application form submitted to the Clerk’s Department with a fee. The application will then be reviewed by the MNBP Management Team. Collected comments will be presented to Council for the ultimate decision of approval or denial of the purchase. All legal costs will be billed to the requestor. She revealed that the process will be costly and time consuming.
Shore road allowances (SRAs) can be described as strips of land along the edge of rivers, lakes, and waterways that are usually 66 feet wide. Initially surveyed by the Crown in the 1800s to create public access routes on shorelines for transportation and infrastructure, SRAs have been transferred to municipalities over time, and many were never developed into roads. Today, the majority are untouched and overgrown but serve as separate parcels of land. If an SRA exists between your house/cottage and the water, the public is legally permitted to use the land for shoreline access, even if it seems like your private property. A land survey should be able to determine if an SRA exists between your property and the water.
Most SRAs are under municipal authority. Croce stated, “General rule of thumb, roads providing water access or other public uses remain publicly owned.” The draft policy explains that the public maintains common law rights to use road allowances and shore road allowances unless restricted by by-law or the land is closed.
An excerpt from the draft Comprehensive Land Policy states, “The public does not have the right, without written permission of the Municipality, to cut down trees, remove natural obstructions, grade, or make any changes in any way with a view to permitting or enhancing safe passage for pedestrians and/or motor vehicles on Municipal Lands.”
The draft policy further indicates that all applications from abutting landowners to purchase road allowances will be considered by the Municipality. “All road allowance closures are at the discretion of Council and shall be unfettered by any previous decisions. The primary reasons for closing a portion of highway is that there is no present or anticipated future Public Use or Public Interest for the highway, it does not serve as the sole vehicular access to any Land, and the closure does not conflict with Municipality by-laws, policies, or practices.”
Due to high interest in the subject, Croce proposed subsequent staff reports presented at the February 23rd and March 9th Council Meetings.
Mayor Milt McIver said, “I think we’re going to have a lot of interest in shore road allowances and accesses as well.”
