Town recruits citizens to shut down illegal trucking operations in Caledon

Local residents can help enforcement officers crack down on what could be dozens or hundreds of illegal trucking outfits operating out of Caledon.

The town’s Illegal Land Use Task Force was formed following growing complaints from residents about trucking and logistics companies frustrated by the noise pollution coming from storage yards.

In 2021, some 300 locations across Caledon were inspected revealing approximately 180 properties had at least one tractor trailer or commercial vehicle parked or stored. Since then several outfits have been fined or shuttered, including one hit with a $1 million fine.

Now the town is asking concerned citizens to get involved “using their knowledge and experience” of Caledon and the area to aid with the crackdown.

“We’ve heard loud and clear that this is an important issue in our community,” Caledon’s Commissioner of Community and Human Services Catherine McLean said in a statement, adding that citizen members will “work collaboratively with our community partners to improve the quality of life in Caledon.”

The town says hundreds more properties across Caledon have been inspected in recent years and the task force will help address illegal land use, not just in the trucking industry but illegal events and places of worship.

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Caledon has called on the province to give municipalities the power block entry to properties with illegal land uses, specifically those that have “significant impacts on residential properties, the environment, or create unsafe situations.”

Two other illegal operations – 6086 Mayfield Inc. and 2652876 Ontario Inc. – were also shuttered last year for violating Caledon’s zoning and fill bylaws, and the town now says “all trucks have been removed from their property as ordered.”

Clearing the trucks from both properties are positive steps toward ending “significant illegal transportation depots along the Mayfield West corridor,” the town says.

Anyone interested in the Illegal Land Use Task Force can click here to apply and learn more. Applications are open until July 21 at 11:59 p.m.