Important Update: The moratorium for the Road Purchasing Program has been lifted and an update to the policy has been approved by Council.

Repealed as of February 11, 2025

Roads License Agreement

Background

During the regular council meeting held on August 13, 2024, Township of Lake of Bays Council approved a temporary suspension, known as a moratorium, on the Township’s Road Licensing Agreement Program. This moratorium was set for 180 days. The purpose of the moratorium was to host a public meeting affording the affected ratepayers the opportunity to provide comments and concerns with respect to the program and for Council to consider this feedback prior to the end of the moratorium.

After the special public meeting held September 9, 2025, Council directed staff to review and investigate the concerns and comments and bring forward a report with the findings and recommendations on how to proceed with the Roads License Agreement Program and that the 180-day moratorium be extended to include road purchases.

A staff report was presented at the January 14, 2025, Council Meeting and Council approved the following amendments to the Road License Agreement Program:

Removal of Roads, Streets and Lanes on Plans of Subdivision
Terms of the agreement be rewritten to address new access only during construction and remove the requirement for renewal and annual fees
Terms of the agreement be rewritten to remove the requirement for previously existing roads/driveways to enter into an Agreement.
Rewrite the agreement to be succinct and concise, reduce the length and use language that is easy to understand.
That the Road Purchase policy be reviewed and updated based on the amendments to the Road License Agreement Program.

On February 11, 2025, Council repealed the previous by-laws and approved By-law 2025-033 adopting a new policy, agreement and application for the purpose of granting approval to make improvements to a portion of unassumed road allowance or municipally owned land for access to private property within the Township of Lake of Bays that better addresses the situation under an Unassumed Road Improvement Agreement policy.

On March 11, 2025, Council approved updates to the Road Allowance Closure Procedures Policy. These updates include a reduction in land acquisition fees for road allowances containing private roads or driveways, from $1.00 per square foot to $0.28 per square foot.

Relevant Documents