I own 5 acres of land in an…

I own 5 acres of land in an area that is under the jurisdiction of the lake Simcoe region conservation authority. I bought this land because I wanted to build an elevated residence built on pilings in a natural setting, preserving and enhancing the natural features around me. The back portion of the land is designated as PSW and the front portion is Unclassified Wetland.

The LSRCA has denied me the right to do anything on my own property. Across and adjacent to me are homes that were built prior to 2015 when the regulations were different. I represent one of many cases across Ontario where property owners are being denied the right to make use of their own land due to designations set by the MNR and enforced by local Conservation Authorities. The role of the Conservation Authorities should be to protect watercourses, floodplains and PSW on crown land. However, when it comes to Private property we need a better and more fair system that takes the rights of the property owner into account as well. For property owners who have designated or unclassified wetland features on their land there needs to be a compromise to allow them utilize at least a portion of their land if proper hydro-logical engineering steps are taken to mitigate the effects of any alterations mad to the that portion. At current the MNR and the Conservation Authority are able to devalue private properties by as much as 80% by placing PSW or Unclassified Wetland designations on them. This is not fair to land rural owners who have every motivation to be excellent stewards of their land and the natural habitats surrounding it. If the Government, MNR and Conservation Authorities cannot consider making some sort of compromise with land owners who have wetland designations on their property then perhaps the fairest thing to do would be to offer to purchase the land at market value from land owners in these types of situations. Restricting what rural land owners can do on their own properties undermines the property rights granted to private land owners on their Crown Land Patents in principal. This is an issue that has been overlooked by law makers for far too long and there needs to be a balance set in place.