Otter Lake public access controversy - chronological history - 2004 to 2007


In 2004, in an attempt to add to City reserves, the North Bay City Council embarked upon an initiative to 'privatize' Otter Lake, the third biggest lake in the municipality. This initiative was to see citizens lose all public access to Otter Lake and its associated recreational lands. The lands were to be sold to a single purchaser for a minimum price of 1 million dollars. What ensued was a 3 year struggle by the citizens to stop this from happening. The situation was resolved, for the most part, with no tenders coming forward to purchase the land in August of 2007, and the City agreeing to abandon its initiative to 'privatize' Otter Lake and its associated lands.

This was a classic struggle, with lots of research being done by citizens, many presentations to Council, involvement of many government agencies and MP's, MPP's, petition initiatives and public education / publicity initiatives.

Much can be learned from this struggle. Everything was conducted in an atmosphere of respect. Today the lands are to remain public. There were no losers in this struggle, just winners. The City for its part has gained the support and cooperation of environmental and conservation groups to move forward with the development of trails in this area as well as a commitment for the long term maintenance of this area at next to no cost to the City. This should provide additional passive recreational opportunities to the citizens and added tourism for the City. A win / win situation. What follows is a chronological look at this struggle.

Otter Lake lands initially acquired to make a municipal park for future generations

In the late 1960's, early 70's, the City of North Bay acquired all the lands around Otter Lake, the largest lake in the northeastern section of the municipality, with the intention of using it some day to satisfy the growing recreational needs of the population. Two parcels (the Southwest parcel - Pin 12 and the Northwest parcel - Pin 22) were acquired from the MNR who placed the following condition on title: IT IS A CONDITION of these Letters Patent that the Land shall be used only as a municipal park. The lands were designated as a municipal park and the North Bay Mattawa Conservation Authority was commissioned by the City using a $17,000 MNR grant to prepare a Master Plan for this municipal park. The result was a 1979 study entitled 'Background Information for the Otter Lake Master Plan', which was presented to the public via public meetings shortly after completion. You may download this study by using the link provided for this at the end of this web page.

North Bay Council changes direction . . .

In 2004 Council undertook an initiative to sell all the lands surrounding Otter Lake as a block and market these lands as a "PRIVATE LAKE" sale, for a few million dollars. On Feb. 9th, 2004 Council declared 22 parcels of land surplus in a package that included Otter Lake. In making this decision Councilors were not aware of the Master Plan study and the public was not consulted.

On August 28, 2004 an article appeared in the Toronto Star advertising the sale of a PRIVATE LAKE - Otter Lake. The article failed to mention the fact that the southwest parcel had a 'shall only be used as a municipal park' condition and could not be sold while that condition was on title. Environmental groups became aware of the condition imposed by the MNR on the southwest and northwest parcels (Block 49125, TWP of Widdifield, Pins 12 and 22), and banded together to attempt to secure public access to the lake for all citizens for all time. Note: In all that follows, when we refer to PIN numbers, it is assumed that they are part of Block 49125, TWP of Widdifield.

Otter Lake removed from parks By-Law

On November 14th, 2005 By-law No. 2005-229 was passed in three readings despite a presentation made by a citizen on behalf of the Conservation Committee of the Nipissing Naturalists, the Trout Lake Conservation Association, and the North Bay Hunters and Anglers. The result of the By-Law was to remove Otter Lake from the Parks By-Law. Citizens were disappointed that three readings were done that same night. This included Pin 12, which is a parcel with a 'shall only be used as a municipal park' condition.

Municipal park condition stands

At this point in time the City approached the MNR, asking it to remove the 'Municipal Park' condition on the southwest parcel. The MNR pointed out that this would require public consultation, and that removing the condition would be contrary to the intent under which the land was 'given' to the City for a nominal sum. The final decision as to whether or not to remove this condition would rest with the MNR. Lobbying by many local environmental groups at all levels made the removal of this condition very unlikely. Consequently, in the spring of 2006, Council abandoned the idea of selling the municipal park parcel of land surrounding Otter Lake, but decided to continue with the sale of the remaining parcels.

Four of five parcels (Pins - full lots) are now for sale

Council then decided to sell the remaining three parcels and Pin 25 which they also owned. The southwest parcel (Pin 12) would retain its 'shall only be used as a municipal park' condition. In order to maximize the selling price, Council looked into the idea of land-locking the municipal park parcel, thereby making Otter Lake inaccessible to the public. Landlocking the municipal park parcel would have the effect of preserving the initiative of selling Otter Lake as a private lake.

Referencing the map . . .

The light purple areas are parcels of land owned by the City of North Bay. Note that all the lands immediately surrounding Otter Lake are purple in colour. These parcels are denoted Pins 12, 13, 19 and 21. Also note that at the bottom right of the map, some parcels of land are yellow in colour. These lands belong to the Crown. Also note that there are two parcels that belong to the City that have Municipal Park conditions imposed upon them. These are Pin 12 (lower left), and Pin 22 (upper left).

Council continued its initiative to try and market Otter Lake as a private lake by erecting and locking a gate at the junction of the Southern Access Road and Widdifield Station Road (see map). Citizens complained that the City had erected their gate on Crown Land (see map) and the City was asked by the MNR to move the gate further down the Southern Access Road.

The challenge, from the point of view of the citizens, was how to go about providing citizen-access to the lake for all time while respecting the legal initiatives undertaken by the City.

The Otter Lake Walking Trail

In the spring of 2006, the North Bay Hunters and Anglers applied for a walking trail permit from the MNR. You can see the location of this walking trail in the Crown Land section of the map. After successful completion of an environmental assessment a MNR permit (NB020-06/07) was issued allowing citizens to cut the walking trail from the Southern Access Road to the southeast corner of Pin 12 (the parcel with the Municipal Park condition).

Constructing the walking trail . . .

Property map - Otter Lake
Volunteer doing final trimming Trail cutting crew

On November 25th, 2006, 24 volunteers from the various groups cut the 1.6 km trail in a day (above). It has been used extensively ever since.

The December 27th, 2006, 'Walk Off That Turkey' walk . . .

On December 27th, 2006, some 60 people were on the trails as part of the Widdifield Ratepayers Association 'Walk Off That Turkey' walk ( 2 photos below).

       Dec. 27 Turkey Walk     Dec. 27, Turkey Walk, group 1 of 3

Citizens acquire long term access to Otter Lake

The successful construction of the Otter Lake Walking Trail created walking access from Widdifield Station Road to the southeast tip of the Municipal Park Parcel. From here people could roam freely to Otter Lake, through the Municipal Park. This meant that Otter Lake could no longer be marketed as a 'private lake' by the City, which in turn made the sale that much more complicated. Concurrent to this, the Otter Lake Friends constructed a website and advertised the website on the trail, so that prospective buyers could 'discover' the true implications of the trail.

Otter Lake Petition
On August 20th, 2007, a petition carrying over 3,000 signatures was presented to North Bay City Council asking Council to please not sell the Otter Lake Recreational Lands. Tenders closed on August 22nd.
On August 22nd, at 2 pm, the City announced that there were no bids - no tenders received.

This was seen as a win-win situation for both Council and citizens. >From the City's point of view, citizens had stepped up to the plate, had banded together under the Otter Lake Friends, and told Council that they were prepared to take care of this area for the benefit of the public at large, at little to no cost to the City. Over time, this would become a first class tourist attraction which in turn would bring prestige and tourism dollars to the City, while adding to the high quality of recretional opportunities to be found in North Bay.

Where do we go from here?
To the credit of the Mayor, Council and the Chief Administrative Officer, a collective effort is presently underway to create high quality recreational opportunities in the Otter Lake Recreational Lands. To this effect, a gentleman's agreement (no sexism intended) was struck in November 2007. This agreement will serve as a guide re the future use and development of this fabulous area.


City of North Bay / Otter Lake Friends Agreement (November 2007)
  1. The City's parks planning studies do not contemplate committing City resources to upgrading or maintaining any park or recreational feature at the Otter Lake site;
  2. The City sees no need to formalize an agreement with any user group regarding the maintenance or development of a park or recreation use at Otter Lake
  3. The City resolution does not strictly limit any cleanup effort to the TLCA. Should various like minded groups want to reach their own agreement with regard to cooperation on clean up efforts, this would be acceptable to the City.
  4. The City will post no dumping signs at appropriate accesses into Otter Lake .
  5. The City will post no overnight parking signs in proximity of the former Norhaven site.
  6. The City will erect signs that have the effect of encouraging the public to maintain the site in the condition it was found.
  7. The City will pickup and remove garbage/litter that is removed from the Otter Lake accesses and recreation areas by the user group(s), provided that such garbage pickup is conducted no more than twice a year and is coordinated with the City staff.
  8. The City will not participate in archeological assessments.
  9. The City will not object to non-intrusive extensions of walking trails provided that the nature and location is first discussed and approved by the CAO or his designate. The approval will not be unreasonably withheld if the trail extension involves the removal of saplings and immature trees of less than 90mm in caliper.
  10. The city will not construct sanitary facilities i.e. latrines but will review the matter with the user group after 1 year to determine whether it is appropriate to permit the user group to establish some form of rustic no maintenance sanitary facility.
  11. While it is the City _ s stated intent to maintain a gated and locked central access for the benefit of the owner of the private island, the City would not object to people walking around the gate and using the existing road for pedestrian access. Discussion occurred that this would be the last area to be considered for trails extension.
  12. P.I.N. 12 (the MNR covenant lands) will be removed from the list of City owned properties declared surplus.
  13. The City only entertain offers of purchase for the remaining Otter Lake lands from community based groups for uses that would be deemed to provide a larger public benefit.
  14. The gate be removed from the Southerly trail so as to allow unimproved access to the lake on an at your own risk basis.


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