Licensing or Leasing Town Land for Business

The purpose of this policy is to give guidance to Administration and to assist potential users as to the options that are available for the use of municipal lands.  It is intended to provide a more consistent approach in processing applications and requests, and protecting and indemnifying the Town of Nanton wherever these arrangements exist.

The objectives of the Policy are to:

a. Hold municipal lands in trust and to ensure public access to these lands, where applicable, is not compromised;

b. Provide municipal land to serve specific needs that are in the public interest or provide a new revenue stream to the Town;

c. Ensure adequate stewardship of municipal lands and improvements; and

d. Promote the ethos that third parties which lease, license or encroach upon municipal lands and improvements are either responsible for or significantly contribute to all costs associated with occupying the property.

These objectives shall generally be met through:

Leases for the exclusive use and licenses of occupation for non-exclusive use of municipal land for the purpose of providing suitable land and/or improvements to third parties on a temporary basis.

Encroachment Agreements for the purpose of legally facilitating, where desirable, the extension of neighbouring or adjacent structures, improvements or uses onto municipal land.

More about Licences of Occupation (LOCs)

These are a new tool for Nanton and are structured by both the above policy and the new Community Event Policy depending on the need.  They give legal authority for a business, individual, or group to utilize public property in order to carry out specific activities for either short or long term durations.
 
In a Downtown commercial core. these activities can potentially include outdoor restaurants, bar patios, sidewalk cafes, merchant displays, food trucks, raffle stands, charity barbeques, street performers, fairs, parades, weddings, sporting events and Farmers Markets.  They can also be used in municipal lands or buildings where a lease or basic rental  is not the appropriate solution for one or both parties.  The lack of exclusive use in an LOC means that the public property could still be available to other parties, including the Town,  at certain times under certain conditions - sometimes at the same time as other licensees (e.g. multiple temporary activities in the same location).
 
As these public spaces were built by and for the public through taxation, businesses and occupiers of these public spaces must come with terms and conditions, which may include payment for the use of the space.