GBA 2022 - Summer Update

Rocking the Boat: Floating Cottages Raise Ecological Concerns ADVOCACY

By Rupert Kindersley, Executive Director

G BA has been working on the issue of floating cottages for about 25 years, but due to a recent proliferation of new manufacturers and designs, there has been a renewed interest in developing appropriate regulations to address a variety of concerns. Municipalities, for instance, are interested in making these accommodation units subject to local taxes. For GBA, the primary concern is to ensure that environmental protections are in place – proper disposal of black water, grey water, and garbage are the most concerning environmental issues. What Is a Floating Cottage? Floating cottage design varies between those that need to be towed from place to place and those that have their own means of propulsion and navigation. However, all are clearly accommodation units built on rafts, rather than within a

hull. At present there is a clear distinction between floating cottages, which GBA wants to see regulated municipally, and houseboats, which are outside of GBA action on floating cottages. This may change as more imaginative designs are developed. Legal Precedents ≥ In 1997, a floating cottage turned up attached to a private, natural-state island in the Township of the Archipelago (ToA). ToA launched a lawsuit to enforce its removal and won, forcing the floating cottage to be removed. ≥ In 2015, an Ontario Supreme Court decision on a boathouse in Kawartha Lakes may create a pathway for municipalities to enforce their bylaws on structures that are floating above lakebeds.

These two recreational vehicles on barges were tied off to Crown land for an extended period in the Bay of Islands in 2019. Similar setups have increasingly been observed across the GBA area.

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GBA UPDATE Summer 2022

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