V-1.3 - Act respecting off-highway vehicles

Section 74 Disposition versions

2020-12-30

74. Unless another distance is fixed by municipal by-law under section 95, no vehicle may be operated on a trail within 100 metres, or, on a trail laid out before 1 January 2012, within 30 metres of a dwelling, a facility operated by a healthcare institution or an area reserved for cultural, educational, recreational or sports activities.

Such restrictions do not apply to the laying out of a trail

(1)  if the trail was initially laid out at a shorter distance with the express authorization of the owner of the dwelling or reserved area or, on public land, with the authorization of the owner or lessee of the dwelling or reserved area;

(2)  if the trail is laid out in the right of way of a public highway or road on public land, in accordance with the applicable provisions;

(3)  if the trail is laid out on a private road;

(4)  if the trail is laid out on an abandoned railroad right of way and is indicated on a land use and development plan or a metropolitan land use and development plan; or

(5)  in any other cases and on any other conditions determined by government regulation.

In assessing compliance with the fixed minimum distance, the presence is not taken into account of dwellings, facilities and reserved areas for which a building permit or land-use authorization was issued after the authorization to lay out a trail.

The course of a laid-out trail may be modified without taking into account the 100-metre restriction referred to in the first paragraph if the course of the trail is only slightly modified, in particular, to adapt it after the loss of a right of way or to widen the trail for safety purposes.

A modification to a trail is not considered a new laying out if it does not have the effect of allowing traffic on the trail at a shorter distance than the distance before the modification or if the trail remains at a distance of at least 100 metres.

For the purposes of this section, in the absence of any other proof, use of a trail for one year is proof that the trail has been laid out.

The distances referred to in this section are fixed for the benefit of the owners of the constructions and areas referred to in the first paragraph, who alone are considered to have sufficient interest to raise an issue in case of failure to comply with the distances.

The trails that are indicated on the maps of the interregional snowmobile and quad networks published by the Minister in the Gazette officielle du Québec are presumed to have been laid out in accordance with this section.

Prior to the publication of the final version of such maps, the Minister must publish a notice in the Gazette officielle du Québec, accompanied by the proposed maps, mentioning that the final version of the maps may be fixed within 30 days of publication of the proposed maps and that any interested person may transmit their comments to the Minister during that period.

2020, c. 26, s. 74.

Not in force

In force: 2020-12-30

74. Unless another distance is fixed by municipal by-law under section 95, no vehicle may be operated on a trail within 100 metres, or, on a trail laid out before 1 January 2012, within 30 metres of a dwelling, a facility operated by a healthcare institution or an area reserved for cultural, educational, recreational or sports activities.

Such restrictions do not apply to the laying out of a trail

(1)  if the trail was initially laid out at a shorter distance with the express authorization of the owner of the dwelling or reserved area or, on public land, with the authorization of the owner or lessee of the dwelling or reserved area;

(2)  if the trail is laid out in the right of way of a public highway or road on public land, in accordance with the applicable provisions;

(3)  if the trail is laid out on a private road;

(4)  if the trail is laid out on an abandoned railroad right of way and is indicated on a land use and development plan or a metropolitan land use and development plan; or

(5)  in any other cases and on any other conditions determined by government regulation.

In assessing compliance with the fixed minimum distance, the presence is not taken into account of dwellings, facilities and reserved areas for which a building permit or land-use authorization was issued after the authorization to lay out a trail.

The course of a laid-out trail may be modified without taking into account the 100-metre restriction referred to in the first paragraph if the course of the trail is only slightly modified, in particular, to adapt it after the loss of a right of way or to widen the trail for safety purposes.

A modification to a trail is not considered a new laying out if it does not have the effect of allowing traffic on the trail at a shorter distance than the distance before the modification or if the trail remains at a distance of at least 100 metres.

For the purposes of this section, in the absence of any other proof, use of a trail for one year is proof that the trail has been laid out.

The distances referred to in this section are fixed for the benefit of the owners of the constructions and areas referred to in the first paragraph, who alone are considered to have sufficient interest to raise an issue in case of failure to comply with the distances.

The trails that are indicated on the maps of the interregional snowmobile and quad networks published by the Minister in the Gazette officielle du Québec are presumed to have been laid out in accordance with this section.

Prior to the publication of the final version of such maps, the Minister must publish a notice in the Gazette officielle du Québec, accompanied by the proposed maps, mentioning that the final version of the maps may be fixed within 30 days of publication of the proposed maps and that any interested person may transmit their comments to the Minister during that period.

2020, c. 26, s. 74.