Questions still swirl around dock laws

The municipality of Chelsea opened Pandora’s Box when it set out to regulate docks along Gatineau River.

Docks like these have long dotted the banks of the Gatineau River in Chelsea, and the municipality is still working on the draft bylaw that would regulate them. Low Down file photo

The issue is complicated to begin with, but the waters are further muddied with the issues of private waterfront ownership, waterfront owners allowing their buddies to build docks on their land and the fact that unpermitted docks have been a part of Chelsea life for decades.

Because of this, The Low Down took questions – doubtlessly the same ones Chelsea waterfront residents or unpermitted dock owners are wondering themselves –