ATV Policy
The ATV policy was put in place to protect all Resort Owners. The Board is very concerned that the continued operation of ATVs within the Resort could lead to a law suit against the Condo Corp. in the event of a serious injury accident. In order to protect the Condo Corp., and provide a compromise situation that would allow ATVs to continue to operate at the Owner’s sole risk, the ATV Policy sets out the conditions under which ATVs can be stored at the Resort, as per the existing by-laws.
The Board believes that enforcement of provincial laws should continue to reside with the RCMP and the Vulcan County by-law officer, despite the fact that the Board is required by law to enforce all by-laws. It is our understanding that previous Boards have adopted this same position.
The current by-laws dated October 12, 1993 contain provisions that state:
"An Occupant shall not park or bring into, or permit to be parked or brought into the Project any Recreational Vehicle or motor vehicle (including snowmobiles, motorcycles or off highway and all terrain vehicles) at any time without the prior approval of the Board or its Manager"
The ATV policy outlines the conditions under which "approval of the Board or its Manager" will be provided. The ATV policy mirrors the requirements under the provincial Off-Highway Vehicle Regulation regarding insurance, license, muffler, minimum operator age, etc.
The Board’s position is that if you can show the Board that you are complying with the law, you can store your ATV at the Resort. We believe that the ATV Policy will greatly limit the liability the Condo Corp. could be exposed to by demonstrating that all Owners are required to comply with provincial laws to be in compliance with the Condo Corp.’s by-laws.
The Traffic Safety Act states that the roads within the Resort are deemed to be open to the public and therefore the operation of any off-highway vehicle / ATV on the Resort’s roads is illegal. We have received a petition asking the Board to put to a vote amendments to the by-laws to allow ATV’s to operate within the Resort, including on the roads. The Condo Corp. and the Developer can not have a by-law that condones an illegal activity on property we own and control. Even if a by-law allowing ATVs on the Resort roads was approved, provincial laws would still take precedence.
The current by-laws also state that:
"An Occupant shall not operate snowmobiles, motorcycles or off highway and all terrain vehicles on any Unit or the Common Property"
The roads within the Resort are Common Property, which are still owned by the Developer (transfer to the Condo. Corp. is expected later this year, hence our liability risk is about to increase even more).
Please note that under the Condominium Property Act the Condo Corp. is required to enforce all by-laws. We believe that the current Board and prior Boards have tried to find a workable compromise towards those Owners who have been operating ATVs at the Resort. These Owner’s have put the Condo Corp. in a difficult position and the ATV Policy was put forward as compromise position. Legally, ATVs should never have been allowed to come onto the Resort.
If some Owners want to change the by-laws to have ATVs allowed on the Common Property (excluding the roads) then a proper petition should state proposed wording changes to the by-laws for the Board to put forward to all Owners.
The petition we received had about 52 Units represented, which is a significant number considering that there are about 170 dwellings and trailers. The Board will give this petition serious consideration. When we send out the new proposed by-laws for approval we could provide different versions of the draft by-laws (e.g. one for and one against ATVs) and allow the Owner’s to vote as they see fit. This approach should satisfy the request made in the petition.