L&A County threatens legal action over Napanee’s encampment protocol map

“Good fences make good neighbours.” The old saying suggests clear boundaries lead to better relationships, but sometimes neighbourly relationships and boundaries are complicated.

The Council of the Town of Greater Napanee held a brief but tense special meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, to address a legal challenge from Lennox & Addington (L&A) County. At issue is Greater Napanee’s Encampment Protocol and a map showing public lands where emergency camping may be permitted. The County accuses the Town of effectively directing unhoused people to 97 Thomas Street in Napanee --- home to the County’s administration offices, museum, and courthouse.

Background

Recent case law in Waterloo, Kingston, and Hamilton has confirmed that homeless individuals have a constitutional right to shelter on public property when there are not enough shelter beds or affordable housing. The rulings do not distinguish between municipal, provincial, or federal ownership of public property.

Greater Napanee experienced a surge in encampments in the summer of 2024, primarily on Town property. After some negative interactions, including at least one violent incident between housed and unhoused residents, the Town sought legal advice, studied other municipalities, and held two major public meetings in September and October 2024. In November, it adopted its Encampment Protocol bylaw, which sets rules for camping on public land, defines “sensitive use areas” where camping is prohibited (and setbacks from those areas for camping have been established), and includes a map identifying other public properties.

The Town’s position

At the August 27 special meeting, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Matthew Grant informed Council that the Town was facing “a legal threat from the County of Lennox and Addington regarding our use of a map that identifies public lands in Greater Napanee.”

“The County’s concern is that by showing public lands on a map --- lands that case law says homeless individuals can use --- we are encouraging people to go there,” Grant said.

Grant stressed that the map was intended as “our main education tool,” not as a guide to direct people: “We went above and beyond to consult stakeholders about the protocol, including the map… The only feedback from the County was to remove their phone number from the map.”

The controversy began on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, when a tent appeared on County property at 97 Thomas Street. Grant stated that there had been no complaints before that time. On August 14, the County requested that its lands be removed from the map due to heritage designation, children’s programming at the Museum of Lennox & Addington, and the presence of the County Courthouse. Then, on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, the County’s solicitor issued a cease-and-desist order, according to the Napanee CAO.

Grant recommended that Council encourage the County to pass its own encampment bylaw and then update the map accordingly. 

“I also suggest the County develop a strategy to manage the increasing number of homeless encampments in Greater Napanee,” he said.

Councillor Angela Hicks asked Senior By-law Enforcement Officer Arthur Cooke to confirm that the map only shows areas where camping is not allowed and does not direct anyone to specific locations. Cooke confirmed this, stating no one had directed people to 97 Thomas Street.

Council stopped short of removing County lands from its encampment map; instead, as Grant had recommended, Council urged the County to pass its own bylaw, promised to update the map if the County does so, and called on County leaders to develop a public strategy for managing the rise in local encampments.

The County’s response

On Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, L&A Warden Nathan Townend told Kingstonist, “Local governments have responsibilities to address the needs of the people they serve. Unhoused people need safe and reasonable places to live. Children and families need safe places where they can learn, play, and visit. We balance these needs and priorities every day… Solving homelessness takes a coordinated, community approach.”

Townend said the County had “very simply and politely asked the Town to remove the County’s properties from [its] map” because those properties were shown in a colour that “signifies they are appropriate for encampment, as public lands.”

He pointed to the Municipal Act, 2001, which states, “By-laws and resolutions of a municipality apply only within its boundaries.”

“The Town does not have the legal authority, through a bylaw, to decide whether County lands can be used for any purpose, whether they are public or private,” he said.

On the courthouse and museum property at 97 Thomas Street, Townend added: “A reasonable person can see that the County courthouse and museum are not an appropriate place for an encampment… We assumed the Town would be sympathetic to our concerns and assist us by removing our properties from the map.”

Townend noted the Town has not formally responded to the request. He also suggested Napanee should share responsibility: “Going forward, we welcome any conversation about how the Town of Greater Napanee also plans to contribute financially to these and other efforts to help those who are unhoused in their community.”

Asked why the issue was not raised during the Town’s consultation process in 2024, Townend said, “We did not anticipate the map would be used to direct unhoused persons to our properties, as it was part of the Town’s bylaw, which does not apply to us.”

He added that a support worker told County staff “that Town staff had told them to direct people to our property in the map,” though he declined to identify what support organization that worker was part of.

Townend acknowledged that, absent a County bylaw, case law allows people to shelter on County land, including 97 Thomas Street. 

“So yes, right now anyone could camp there,” he said. 

But he maintained it was “not appropriate under the Municipal Act for the Town to direct people to do that, even if it is legal for the individual.”

“If the Town is willing to ultimately adjust the map to reflect a County bylaw once passed, then why are they refusing in the meantime to remove our properties from the map to allow us time to pass a bylaw and avoid a potentially inappropriate encampment?” Townend concluded.