Dr. Mark D. Black

of that change, and others that we’ve made, to make accessing services easier for residents.”

Short Term Rentals

Residents and visitors can expect to see changes this summer with respect to how Short Term Rentals operate and how complaints are managed.

At the June 20, 2023 Regular Council meeting, City of Kawartha Lakes Council adopted a new By-law to License, Regulate and Govern Short-Term Rental Accommodation Businesses in the City of Kawartha Lakes and approved a soft rollout for a licensing program. The changes are being put in place to ensure the health and safety of all renters and residents. The new program and By-law will allow the municipality to respond to concerns quickly, and to ensure that owners are taking responsibility for the safe and respectful use of their properties.

Kawartha Lakes Municipal Law Enforcement and Licensing Office is underway with preparing to rollout the program. Initial steps include hiring four new Municipal Law Enforcement Officers, creating a licensing framework and launching the vendor relationship that will enable complaints to be received and actioned on a 24-hour basis.

The program will see a ‘soft rollout’ for the balance of the year. Short Term Rental owners can expect to be contacted by Kawartha Lakes with further information on becoming licensed.

Staff will bring a report to Council by March 31, 2024 to report on how the Short Term Rental Accommodation Business Licensing Program is being received in the community along with any necessary recommendations to amend the By-law.

In the case of emergency, or if the situation involves a criminal activity, please contact police. In Lindsay and Ops, contact Police Administration by calling 705-324-5252. In an emergency call 911 immediately.

For all areas outside Lindsay and Ops contact the OPP Kawartha Lakes Detachment. Police Administration can be reached by calling 705-3246741. In an emergency call 911 immediately.

Updates will be posted on the Short Term Rental page of the website at www.kawarthalakes.ca.

Burn Bans Lifted

Both the City of Kawartha Lakes and Municipality of Trent Lakes have lifted the ban on outdoor fires, effective immediately.

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) issued a ban in early June across the entire Fire Region of Ontario due to extreme forest fire conditions. In support of the MNRF. To reduce the strain on forest firefighting resources and reinforce the ban, the Kawartha Lakes and Trent Lakes issued their own burn bans for residents and visitors.

With the lifting of the municipal burn ban, the Kawartha Lakes Fire Department has set the burn hazard index rating to high. While the burn hazard index is set to high, open-air fires using extreme caution are allowed in the municipality.

“The Kawartha Lakes Fire Department would like to thank the public for their continued patience and for doing their part to help prevent forest fires and keep our communities safe,” said Fire Chief Terry Jones.

The province will continue to assess forest fire hazard conditions and an RFZ designation may be reinstated in higher risk areas in the future if the fire hazard and fire activity warrants. It is important that the public check with their local municipality as they may still have local fire bans or fire restrictions in place.

Milk Run Impact

The annual Lindsay Milk Run 5K/10K event will be returning on Sunday, July 16. This event will take place at the Lindsay Recreation Complex located at 133 Adelaide Street South in Lindsay.

A Temporary Road Closure Permit for this event has been approved by the Kawartha Lakes Public Works division.

Vehicular traffic along the route will be impacted through delays or possible re-routing between the hours of 7:30am until approximately 10:30am.

Albert Street South

Albert Street South between the area of Mary Street and Fleming College will be closed to all vehicular traffic starting at approximately 6am. A barricade will be placed across the street preventing traffic from entering Albert Street South. Only local traffic will be permitted to cross the barricade between the hours of 6am and 8:20am.

Starting at 8:20am all vehicular traffic will be restricted in this area as the 5K runners pass through. The area should be clear of all participants by 8:30am. A barricade will remain in place until the end of the event at approximately 10:30am. Volunteer Course Marshals will be on site at the intersection of Mary Street and Albert Street from 7am until 9:30am directing traffic, as required.

Mary Street

The 10K division will start at 8am. Starting at approximately 7:30am the area of Mary Street West between Adelaide Street South and Albert Street South will be closed to all vehicular traffic to accommodate runners and the setup of the race start line. During this time, traffic will be re-routed around this section of street.

Residents in this area are asked to prepare for this temporary impact accordingly. Directly impacted residents will also receive a letter prior to the event advising them of the potential race impacts.

Traffic flow will continue at approximately 8:10am through this area. The intersection of Mary Street and Albert Street will be impacted at 8:20am as 5K runners will travel through this area until approximately 8:30am.

A rolling street closure will take place at the intersection of Mary Street and Adelaide Street between the hours of 8:20am and 9:30am. Volunteer Course Marshals as well as Police will be stationed at the intersection to direct traffic accordingly.

Adelaide Street

Adelaide Street South between the area of Mary Street and the Lindsay Recreation Complex will be