Pictou considers amending off-highway vehicle bylaw to aid event approval

Town council is considering revamping its off-highway vehicle bylaw for the Jitney Trail to shorten the wait time for application for special events.

Council passed a recommendation Monday during its committee of the whole meeting that would amend the bylaw.

Currently ATVs and snowmobiles are only allowed to travel as far as Browns Point on the Jitney Trail. If an off-road club wants to host a special event in the town, it must apply for a special events permit at least six weeks in advance of the event.

“An application for an event permit shall be filed with the CAO or his designate not later than six weeks prior to the proposed date of the event with said application being accompanied by a fee as prescribed within the Town fees policy as amended from time to time,” reads the current bylaw.

The first offence for disobeying the off-highway bylaw ranges from $100 to $10,000 or imprisonment for a period of not more than six months or both. For second and third offences the baseline for the fines increases to $300 and $500.

Council agreed in late 2017 that the six weeks’ timeline could interfere with some organizations wanting to plan an event so it asked for its staff to come up with an alternative solution that would lessen that wait time.

Town staff reported Monday that the best way to fix the problem was for council to amend its current bylaw to allow for the addition of a policy that would allow staff to approve the event permit within a shorter period of time, if all requirements were met, rather than waiting for the request to go through the several steps currently needed for council’s approval.

“The policy will allow staff, under certain conditions, to approve the special events permit,” said Pictou Mayor Jim Ryan.

This isn’t the first time Pictou town council has had to address the issue of off-highway vehicles on the Jitney Trail. In 2011, a local snowmobile club asked for permission to use the trail so snowmobile enthusiasts could visit for food, gas or supplies.

That request was denied over concerns about noise and pedestrian safety on the trail.