Barn parties are effectively dead, killed by a decision this
week from the Ontario Fire Safety Commission.
The commission ruled in favour of Wilmot Township and
against John Jordan of Shingletown, about 15 km. west of Kitchener.
It’s decision sets a new and impossibly-tough standard for
most who want to hold a barn party, such as a wedding.
The commission ruled that the barn owner must obtain a
permit from the municipality to hold the party and that the municipality must
inspect and approve the barn.
The barn will need alarms, sprinklers, fireproofing around
structural supports, emergency lights, exit signs and easy property access for
fire-department vehicles. In Jordan’s case, it means a widening of the
driveway.
And, of course, the barn owner will require a building
permit to carry out the necessary renovations.
Wilmot Township’s chief building inspector, Doug Robertson,
says many municipalities did not want the issue to go before the Ontario Fire
Safety Commission.
But Wilmot Township would not back down because Robertson
said that would leave it liable in the case of a tragedy at a barn party.
It’s all about liability, said some of the people involved
in the commission’s public hearing in Kitchener earlier this year.
“I am dumbfounded,” said Jordan, who was sure he would win,
especially after the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office said it has no issue with
one-off parties.
“We can’t have parties at this point,” he said of his barn
where his son liked to practice music with friends and they sometimes held
parties for family members and friends.
Wilmot Township earlier forced the closure of a grieving
circle that met in a barn near St. Agatha and a book club that met in a barn
near New Hamburg.
