One Cottager’s Response to…

One Cottager’s Response to Floating Container Homes
We are new commers to the Muskoka lakes. We bought 5 years ago. It is a large island property with lots of shoreline on Six Mile Lake. If we had known there was a slight chance that Muskoka was going to allow floating container homes to be floated anywhere on our lake, we would not have bought. We bought for the view and shoreline and paid dearly for it and to potentially have a floating container home just offshore taking that away from us would be devastating.
The view and shoreline are our solitude from crazy weeks running a medical practice in Ontario. Our main goal when we purchased the cottage was to have privacy. Parking a floating container home off the shore of our property would emotionally destroy us and everything we work so hard to keep. To wake up to a container home so close they can see us drinking our morning coffee is too much to ask of this cottager.
When we do wake up, we see an abundance of wildlife on our shoreline. There are Beavers, Muskrat, Blue Herons, Swans, Loons, Otters, Mink, and fish nesting on and around our shoreline. Floating container homes would be a significant threat to all this wildlife.
We have spent time and money protecting our land and its shoreline as it is our and the wildlife’s land. We let things remain natural from trees, grasses, fallen trees and rock. We ensure our septic system is in top maintenance and ensure garbage, chemicals and such are very well managed.
Floating container homes have no investment in the land or the lake. We see them as a major pollution contributor. This will happen. All boats on water have trouble with garbage flying off the boat and good boaters especially those with cottages will manage this like they own the whole lake. The garbage can be anything from paper to cans to plastics even to fishing line. Garbage will blow off these massive container floating homes.
Other pollutants include sewage. Anytime sewage is transported there is a risk spillage. More homes on the lake that need transporting of sewage will increase the pollutants in the lake. It is inevitable. Noise is an obvious pollutant. Sound travels easily across water as all cottagers know. The residence of these container homes will not likely know or care about sound pollution as they are not invested in the land or the lake. Another pollutant will be light. Studies have shown that light not only destroy the looks of night skies it affects wildlife environment and boater night vision.
Governments may say they can legislate laws to stop people from polluting but who will pay the tab to investigate and enforce the laws. Governments have a tough time enforcing them now.
Cottagers already pay high taxes. Cottagers have invested in the land and will strive to make it better. Floating container homes make no investment in the land. I am sure the tax for floating on Ontario or municipal lakes will be hard to administer and by the time governments collect the revenues their out-of-pocket expenses for law investigation and enforcement will negate any gains. Cottagers will be constantly complaining about the floating container homes. The cost to investigate these complaints and enforce on water is complicated and much higher cost than that of doing the same on land.
From an investment perspective, floating container homes parked in front of any cottage, or the ability, to do so will drop the values of land dramatically. Property values will drop because the environmental impact will the destroy lakes and rivers. Cottagers stand to lose millions. Tax mill rates will need to change and governments risk losing land tax dollars. The loss of property value driven by a government program is a huge liability to those governments. We would be the first to join any class action lawsuit that challenges any government’s program which devalues property values.
Most cottagers bought their cottages for peace, serenity, quietness, open water, shoreline, water activities and wildlife. Floating container homes provide very few of these because they don’t own land or shoreline. It is a cheap getaway for city folk and eyesores and polluters for cottagers. They will have no investment in or need to protect the lakes and the lands they are living on. Governments cannot protect the lakes and shorelines. Lawbreakers needing investigating and enforcing will carry high costs that governments can’t handle.
It's easy for governments. Not justifying this is as easy as justifying why we don’t allow mobile homes in parks, schoolyards and streets and special mention: Crown Land. We don’t because we want to keep Canada pristine.