Haldimand eases housing restrictions to accommodate self-isolation
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Haldimand County has provided an example of how a municipal state-of-emergency streamlines decision-making under extraordinary circumstances.
By order of Mayor Ken Hewitt, seasonal campgrounds and trailer parks in Haldimand are permitted to open early this spring due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic emergency. As well, people are allowed to occupy mobile homes and camping trailers in residential zones in Haldimand until further notice.
In a news release last week, the county said Hewitt relaxed the rules due to the large number of travellers who were told to return to Canada before the border closes as a means of limiting the spread of COVID-19.
Many of these same Canadians have been ordered to self-quarantine for 14 days. Allowing them to do so in recreational trailers, mobile homes and the like is a means of facilitating this, the county says.
“We were contacted by a number of residents stuck abroad and seasonal sites requesting flexibility under these exceptional circumstances,” Hewitt said in the news release. “This order allows residents to access their trailers or mobile homes in order to self-isolate and prevent community transmission.”
The season for campsites and trailer parks in Haldimand normally runs from April 15 to Oct. 31. Given the comparatively mild weather experienced in April, Haldimand does not believe people who self-isolate in this manner will subject themselves to undue hardship or impacts on their health.
Campgrounds and trailer parks that open early must comply with key pieces of provincial legislation. These include the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Health Promotion and Protection Act, and the Fire Protection and Prevention Act.
As an additional measure, Haldimand residents who are required to self-isolate will be permitted to do so in an attached or detached secondary suite on residential property. The latter includes travel trailers and mobile homes.
Normally, use of such facilities would be forbidden in areas without permissive zoning. These special provisions expire once the state-of-emergency in Haldimand is lifted.
Both Haldimand and Norfolk County declared municipal states-of-emergency earlier this week in response to the global pandemic alert. The declarations give both counties extraordinary flexibility to issue orders as challenges from COVID-19 arise.
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