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It's a fact that you can be fined for even removing bulrushes or cattails, or moving rocks to build a dock. Whether it's the MoE or the MNR or a local authority, if they want to be sticky (and they can be sticky) it becomes a problem.

   

I guess I'm glad to have my vacation/retirement home and property up in the Northwest Territories just outside Yellowknife along the Yellowknife Bay. I didn't need permission to build a dock for parking a Twin Otter, just my taxes went up 1%, no biggie.

   

My buddy is going through some tough times with his lake authority (Gatineau area), he cant touch his shoreline and he has to cut back trees and bushes within a certain distance from his shoreline, even the color of his cottage has to conform to set standards, last year he installed a new roof only to be told it was the wrong color,he had to have it painted, also lakeside fires even if in a firepit are now verboten.
However the constant use of chain saws,leaf blowers,an assortment of powers tools and jetski's creating a big noise on the lake every weekend seems to continue unabated.
Country cottages? i'd rent one in your desired locale for a few summers before actually committing the big bucks to a place you may discover is totally not to your liking, i'd also consider a large riverfront over a lakefront property.

   

Ellicottville, New York. It's about 2 hours from the west of the GTA. Really nice little town. It's a ski town in winter but its a great spot in the summer too. There's usually an art fair or some kind of event every other weekend. Great vibe at night and there's nearby antique markets with weird Yank shit for sale. It has a feel of the south of England. Winding roads, rolling hills. Very nice. And cheap.

   

It's not MOE's permission you need, but you do need Parks Canada's permission to alter a beach anywhere on the Trent-Severn system (including Rice Lake).

You're not allowed to dump sand on anyway waterfront anywhere in the Kawartha Lakes.

   

Can somebody tell me the appeal of cottages? When I lived in the Whitby area, it felt like half of the kids I went to school with had cottages somewhere north of the GTA. I'll admit I'm not much of an outdoorsman, but why are cottages so popular in the GTA?

   

Try living in Toronto, then you'll understand.

The smell can get pretty bad in the summer.

   

Montreal has the same smell, but with more French and no right turns at red lights.

   

When it's 35 degrees and 100% humidity and everyone in Ontario is sweating their nuts off or running the AC like the frozen foods section at the grocery store, there a nice cool breeze blowing off my lake and it's downright comfy.

   

We don't get that humid here, so I'm good with the bird bath on my deck

Actually, I've seriously considered looking for a cottage for a couple years now, but worry that I'd lose some enjoyment if I started feeling like I was obligated to get out there every weekend in order to get my moneys worth. Anyone here ever see that as an issue?

   

Yup, I hated the obligation every weekend, preferred to take the family and go camping in different places when we wanted to.

   

NEVER! Buying my cottage was the best money I ever spent. Hands down. Mind you, my job allows me to be there virtually all summer. I get a lot more use out of my place than most cottagers get out of theirs. I mostly use my cottage for weeks at a time without having to endure the Friday evening and Sunday afternoon nightmare commutes. But I do use the place on weekends. Even in autumn, after I've been there for most of the summer, I commute up for weekends. The novelty for being at the cottage never wears off for me. In fact, the recent warm-up we've had in Ontario over the past week has me horny to get up. My kids keep asking when we're going to open up. They love it up there too. It's absolutely a great environment for kids. Also, for me, going to the cottage is going home, so maybe that makes a difference.

As for "your money's worth", I could sell my cottage for at least double what I paid for it 13 years ago, even given that at a lot of that time was a pretty shitty recession that we're not out of even yet. If you don't think you're getting the use you need to justify the expense, you could always re-sell. There doesn't seem to be any shortage in demand.

   

There's lot of things you should get permission for, yet rarely do people get permission from Parks Canada for their various projects. We'll be doing another batch of beach sand this year.

   

Ahh, Rice Lake...the trailer park of the Kawarthas.

   

So it's "screw the rules I can do whatever I want"... I can see why you like Ford so much.

You've done the research I hope on what dumping sand in a lake does to it?

   

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