Establishing, widening, stopping up, etc., highways, laying out boulevards, etc.
297.  (1)The council of every municipality may pass by-laws, (a) for establishing and laying out highways; (b) for widening, altering or diverting any highway or part of a highway; (c) for stopping up any highway or part of a highway or for stopping up any highway or part of a highway for a specified period or periods of time; (d) for leasing or selling the soil and freehold of a stopped-up highway or part of a highway; (e) for setting apart and laying out such parts as may be considered expedient of any highway for the purpose of carriage ways, boulevards and sidewalks, and for beautifying the same, and making regulations for their protection; (f) for permitting subways under and bridges over any highway upon such conditions as the council considers advisable; (g) for acquiring land or an interest in land at street intersections for the purpose of rounding corners. Exceptions as to exercise of power (2)Nothing in subsection (1) authorizes a council to interfere with any public road or bridge vested in the Crown in right of Ontario or in any public department, board or officer of Ontario. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.45, s. 297 (1, 2). (3)Repealed: 1999, c. 12, Sched. M, s. 17 (1). Approval of by-law (4)The powers conferred by subsection (1) shall not be exercised without the consent of the Governor General in Council in respect of, (a) any street, lane or thoroughfare made or laid out by Her Majesty’s Ordinance or the Provincial Secretary of State in whom the Ordinance estates became vested under the Act of the late Province of Canada passed in the 19th year of the reign of Her Late Majesty Queen Victoria, Chapter 45, or under Chapter 24 of the Consolidated Statutes of Canada, or made or laid out by the Government of Canada; (b) any land owned by the Crown in right of Canada; or (c) any bridge, wharf, dock, quay or other work vested in the Crown in right of Canada, and the consent of the Governor General in Council shall be recited in the by-law, but the by-law shall not be quashed or open to question because of the omission to recite it if the consent has been given. Limitation of power of county (5)The powers conferred by clause (1) (c) shall not be exercised by the council of a county in respect of a highway or part of a highway within the limits of a city, town or village in or adjoining the county. Notice to clerk of county (6)Where the council of a township that forms part of a county for municipal purposes intends to pass a by-law under clause (1) (c), it shall so notify in writing the clerk of the county by registered mail or by personal service. Objection to by-law (7)If the council of the county objects to the passing of the proposed by-law in respect of which a notice is given under subsection (6), it shall so notify the clerk of the township, in writing, by registered mail or by personal service within sixty days of the receipt of the notice by the clerk of the county, and thereupon the proposed by-law shall not be passed except by agreement between the council of the county and the council of the township and, failing agreement, the Municipal Board, upon application, may determine the matter and its decision is final. Passage of by-law (8)After giving the notice required under subsection (6), the council of the township may pass a by-law under clause (1) (c) where, (a) the council of the county has by by-law consented to the passing of the by-law by the township; or (b) the sixty-day period referred to in subsection (7) has elapsed and no notice of objection has been received by the clerk of the township from the council of the county, and the council of the county shall have no further right of objection. Closing of highway to vehicular traffic only (9)The council may in any by-law closing a highway provide that the same shall only be closed for vehicular traffic and not for pedestrian traffic or vice versa, and may provide for the erection of barricades to enforce the due observance thereof. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.45, s. 297 (4-9). (10)Repealed: 1999, c. 12, Sched. M, s. 17 (1). Registration of by-laws (11)A by-law passed under subsection (1), or any predecessor of subsection (1), for closing any street, road or highway or for opening upon any private property, any street, road or highway does not take effect until it has been registered in the land registry office of the land titles division or registry division in which the land is situate, and the by-law shall be registered without further proof by depositing a copy certified under the hand of the clerk and the seal of the municipality. Exception (12)Subsection (11) does not apply, and shall be deemed never to have applied, so as to require the registration of a by-law passed before the 29th day of March, 1873. Idem (13)Subsection (11) does not apply so as to require the registration of a by-law passed before the 12th day of February, 1987 in respect of land registered under the Land Titles Act. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.45, s. 297 (11-13). (14)Repealed: 1999, c. 12, Sched. M, s. 17 (1). Note: All money received by a municipality from the selling or leasing of a stopped-up highway or part of a highway and paid into a special account under subsection (14), as it read immediately before its repeal by the Statutes of Ontario, 1999, chapter 12, Schedule M, subsection 17 (1), may be used by the municipality for any purpose for which it has authority to spend funds. See: 1999, c. 12, Sched. M, s. 17 (2).