Realty Services
Realty Services administers the acquisition and disposition of land, expropriation, easements, encroachments, rights-of-way, stop up and closure of road allowances, and the sale of shoreline road allowances for the City.
In addition Realty Services also administers:
- Negotiations to sell land to the City;
- Negotiations from the City to purchase from private (or other public) interests;
- Negotiations from the City to sell land (lot expansions; road allowances; development land; building lots; surplus facilities);
- Third Party inquiries to purchase or occupy land from the City;
- Third Party inquiries to lease/license land from the City;
Realty Services is unable to assist with:
- by-law enforcement on municipal land;
- disputes between private landowners involving land (civil disagreements);
- inquiries involving privately owned property;
- maintenance of vacant municipally owned properties
Land Management Team
The Manager - Realty Services is the Chair of the Land Management Team. The Land Management Team is a staff committee made up of representatives from various City departments. The Team reviews inquiries and/or requests that are submitted to Realty Services relating to municipally owned land.
If you have an inquiry about a piece of municipally owned property that falls under the jurisdiction of Realty Services please complete the applicable application form and submit it to the Realty Services division.
City of Kawartha Lakes
Realty Services
26 Francis Street
P.O. Box 9000
Lindsay, Ontario K9V 5R8
Fax: 705-324-7058
E-mail: realtyservices@kawarthalakes.ca
CP2021-047 Dock Encroachment Policy
Docking Policy Questions and Answers
Why do we need a Dock Policy?
The City of Kawartha Lakes is balancing the City’s risk and liability with residents’ investment in docks and desired access to waterfront.
I have an existing dock on City property. What should I do?
Nothing at this time. Your dock may remain in its current location until the City advises otherwise. The City will contact you with respect to your dock and licensing if/when appropriate.
I would like to put a new dock on City property. Can I do so and, if so, how is this done?
New docks are not permitted to be installed on City property, as per the Dock Encroachment Policy.
I have an existing dock on City property. What actions could the City decide to take with my dock?
The City may decide that your dock may no longer remain on City property if:
1) you are unable to provide insurance coverage for activities on your dock;
2) The Trent Severn Waterway / Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry refuse to issue a permit for the dock;
3) A Conservation Authority having jurisdiction refuses to issue a permit for the dock;
4) Your dock is likely to cause erosion and destabilization of an adjacent travelled roadway;
5) Your dock is likely to result in overcrowding of the area;
6) Your dock is falling into disrepair;
7) Your dock will reduce the ability of the public to use shoreline in the immediate area; or
8) Your dock is likely to reduce the natural aesthetics of the area.
What are the costs of the license?
A: It costs $139.10 to make an application to the Land Management Team. A license costs $150.00 per year (per dock) and/or $400.00 per year (per boathouse structure), which is increased annually by the Consumer Price Index.
Sample License Agreements
Please note that these Agreements are templates/drafts only and individual Agreements may vary.
Dock License Agreement - Cedar Glen (Subdivision)
Dock License Agreement - Cedar Glen (800 Series)
Realty Services Frequently Asked Questions
What is the process to buy, encroach, or obtain a right-of-way to City land? |
The City of Kawartha Lakes has adopted a property disposition by-law in accordance with the Municipal Act, 2001. It has also passed a Land Management Policy, creating a cross-departmental staff team called the "Land Management Team". The current Chair of the Team is Sharri Dyer, Manager - Realty Services. A non-refundable fee of $139.10 must accompany each request that is submitted to the Realty Services division, the fee can be submitted by cash, cheque, or bank draft. Please note a fee of $35.00 will be applied to any N.S.F cheques.
All requests from interested persons to buy, encroach, or obtain a right-of-way to City land are processed first through the Land Management Team. If the Team sees no immediate or future need for the municipal property, a Report is presented to Council to recommend that the property be declared surplus to municipal needs. It is then available for sale.
If the Team determines there is a municipal need for the property, the person making the enquiry is advised by letter. Of course, decisions as to sell or not to sell property are decisions of the municipal council; not the staff. If the prospective purchaser still wishes to pursue a purchase of the land, they may arrange to make a deputation to Council. Realty Services division will present a Report at the same meeting, outlining the Team's reasons to recommend retention of the land.
Where Council is inclined to sell a parcel of land, the declaration that the land is surplus must be advertised prior to any sale. In addition, the municipality is required in most cases to obtain an appraisal of the land value before selling.
The manner in which a property is to be sold will be part of the Land Management Team's recommendation to Council in each case. Often, there is only one "logical" buyer for land, and in those cases, it is likely that a direct sale will be recommended. |
What will Council do? |
No staff person or Committee can guarantee what Council will do with a recommendation to either sell or not sell a particular parcel of land. Council may or may not concur with the Land Management Team's recommendation and the Council decision is final.
The sale of municipal property is handled at a meeting open to the public, and interested persons may attend and/or make representations about their interests, provided Council's rules are followed. The City's Clerk's office can provide assistance with respect to rules for making deputations at Council or Committee meetings.
Please note that Council may choose, as landowner, to assert its right to force any occupier of municipal property to remove any structures on the land and have the occupier cease using the land. |
What types of properties might be sold? |
There are three fairly common circumstances where persons approach the City, seeking to purchase municipally owned property:
Municipal Land
Excess Land Municipalities acquire land for many purposes: parks, walkways, trails, roads, landfill attenuation, natural areas, works depots, municipal buildings, etc. Occasionally, more land than is actually needed for the purpose is obtained, either due to the vendor's wishes, or due to a change in plans during development of the property for its intended purpose. In other cases, a change in plans may result in a project being re-located or discontinued altogether.
In those situations, there may be extra portions of land which are surplus to municipal needs, but which are not road allowances.
Properties that May Have Become Surplus Due to Amalgamation The Land Management Team is starting to receive enquiries about offices and depot buildings that had been used by the former municipalities, but are not currently in use by the administration of the City of Kawartha Lakes.
Properties that Are Not Surplus It is conceivable that the Land Management Team may review, and Council may approve, a request to purchase land that was not considered surplus to municipal needs at the time the enquiry was made.
For example, assume the City is holding a parcel of land for development of a future park. However, the land is not centrally located to the community that it is eventually intended to serve. The land is not surplus; because the park is needed; and the plans are proceeding to develop it. If a property owner of land more centrally located to the park community had a development proposal more suited to the City parcel, that owner might approach the City to explore a land exchange. Before the City could complete the exchange, the municipal parcel would have to be declared surplus. It would not have been considered to be surplus if the replacement property had not been available.
Road Allowances There are many situations where roads were originally laid out so that they lead directly into water. Often the last several feet (or several hundred feet) of those road allowance properties were never developed as travelable roads, and they remain "unopened" and in public ownership. These unopened roads sometime create what appear to be "lots" between two homes or cottages. Others are within a forested or natural area, and are "invisible" to all but property surveyors. Some of them may have been developed as public boat launches. In many cases neighbouring owners have, over the years, encroached onto the road allowances with structures, landscaping, septic beds or wells, etc. Sometimes neighbours have come together and jointly build docks or benches or stairs, etc. (either with or without municipal permission) for mutual enjoyment and/or public use.
Please note that in the fall of 2001, City Council resolved not to sell any road allowances that lead to water. Requests to occupy these types of road allowances (or parts of them) should be forwarded to the Land Management Team. Based on Council's resolution, however, those requests will be denied by the Land Management Team. The request can be forwarded to Council if the person enquiring still wishes to pursue the matter.
Unopened road allowance parcels which are not adjacent to water are also prevalent throughout the City of Kawartha Lakes. These may be unopened road allowances between existing farms or other properties. They may be in circumstances of partial or seasonal use (for example, used as snowmobile trails or for farm vehicle access routes only) or they may be in a state where the neighbouring property owner has occupied them, including circumstances where someone may have actually fenced the land. Again, there are often circumstances where neighbouring owners have, over the years, encroached onto the road allowances with structures, landscaping, septic beds or wells, etc.
Under the Limitations Act, it is not possible for persons to obtain a prescriptive or "squatter's right" against road allowances; even those that are unopened. Accordingly, the unauthorized "trespass" takes place. People have bought and sold properties with these title problems for years - they are either taking the risk that the municipality will never officially open or construct a road, or they are unaware of the title problem.
The private property owner can deal with the trespass in one of three ways:
While it may appear that unopened road allowances, especially those that have been largely occupied by private landowners, have no municipal purposes, there may be indirect or invisible uses (such as underground services or overhead wires) or potential future uses (such as walking or bicycle trails, linear parks, or public access to water that is otherwise entirely in private ownership).
There are other individual circumstances that might apply. For example, it might be more palatable for staff to recommend the disposition of an entire length of road allowance at a given time, rather than recommend piece-meal purchases that might create small pockets of "public" land which is land-locked or accessible only by water.
Shoreline Road Allowances Shoreline road allowances exist on many lakes within Ontario. Crown surveyors reserved a 66 foot wide road allowances around the edges of most Ontario lakes. Although many of these allowances were never opened as public municipal roads, they remain public property. Recreational and residential property owners of "lakefront" property often do not own their lots right up to the water's edge. In many circumstances, the private owner has encroached onto this space and utilized it as a lot addition, without anyone being the wiser (until title searches are conducted). There are numerous circumstances where entire cottages, parts of cottages, boathouses, garages, etc. are actually physically located on property that is not owned by the private property owner. |
What is the cost? |
By-Law 2018-020, as amended, is a by-law to regulate the disposition of municipal real property in and for the Corporation of the City of Kawartha Lakes. According to this by-law prior to the disposition of any real property by the City of Kawartha Lakes, as least one appraisal must be obtained to determine the fair market value of the land.
Exemptions: Schedule "C" of By-Law 2018-020, as amended, sets the minimum prices for road allowances and landlocked lot additions, as follows:
Road Allowances by Shorelines or Interior Road Allowances
Landlocked Lot Additions
Please note, since September 2021, Council has been requiring appraisals for all land sales (including road allowances and shoreline road allowances). The above-noted prices are the minimum value that can be assigned to a property, but the appraised value may be higher.
Full Cost Recovery: In addition to the non-refundable application fee in the amount of $139.10 any costs that are incurred by the City in connection to a request concerning City owned land or the disposition of surplus property shall be payable by the applicant or the proposed purchaser. Such costs shall include:
The following is a list of approximate costs that would be associated with land transactions:
Please note: The above-noted figures are only for informational purposes and the actual costs will vary depending on the parcel of land that is involved in a particular transaction.
Circumstances such as clouds on title, for example, or the size/type of parcel of land can increase costs and are not within the control of the municipality, the applicant will be expected to cover any of these costs. In addition to the above, the applicant is responsible for any costs owing to the solicitor retained to act on their behalf. If H.S.T. is applicable it is in addition to the above.
Please note, the applicant is required to obtain their own legal representation at their own expense. A fee of $35.00 will apply to any N.S.F cheques. |
How do I start the process? |
If you are interested in applying to purchase land from the municipality please complete the Application - Municipal Land Inquiry and submit the same along with the applicable $139.10 non-refundable application fee.
Your application will be presented to the Land Management Team for review. If there are no objections by the Land Management Team then the next steps would be as follows:
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How long does the process take? |
Time frames are largely dependent on the individual circumstances of the case.
The Land Management Team meets every other month. However, by the time a matter is reviewed, reported on, approvals are given, surveys are prepared, advertisements run their course, and legal work completed, there may actually be many months between the Land Management Team comments and actual disposition.
Council generally meets the Tuesday afternoons of the second and fourth full weeks in each month except in July and August when they only hold one meeting.
If Council declares land to be surplus, the sale procedure will begin. In all cases, the surplus declaration must be advertised. If Council has determined that the land should be sold by public tender, then the process will take slightly longer than if Council has approved a direct sale. |
How do I contact the Land Management Team? |
Address correspondence to the Land Management Team to: The Corporation of the City of Kawartha Lakes Realty Services 26 Francis Street P.O. Box 9000 Lindsay, Ontario K9V 5R8 Fax: 705-324-7058 |
Encroachments onto Municipally Owned Land |
City of Kawartha Lakes By-law 2018-017 defines an “encroachment” as any type of vegetation, structure, building, man-made object or item of personal property of a person which exists wholly upon, or extends from that person's premise onto, City-owned lands and shall include any aerial, surface or subsurface encroachments and shall also include but is not limited to, any activity that results in a removal, addition, alteration, or material change to the City-owned lands.
Fax: 705-324-7058
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Road Allowance Status Inquiries |
On July 7, 2015 Council adopted By-law 2015-131 to regulate the procedure that is followed during inquiries relating to the status of a Road Allowance.
Nature of the Inquiry
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Application Forms
- Application - Municipal Land Purchase Inquiry
- Application - Shoreline or Road Allowance Purchase Inquiry
- Application - License Inquiry
- Application - Dock License Inquiry
- Application - Lease Inquiry
- Application - Road Allowance Status Inquiry
Policies and By-Laws
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