I can't read the Record article, but from what I've read elsewhere, it sounds like the landowner has some other disagreement with the municipality over some sort of drainage issue. The implication was that he's holding the trail hostage to gain leverage over the municipality over this other issue.
What exactly are the rights of the municipality with regard to expropriation? Where there are long-standing trails in place, there seems to me to be a strong public interest in expropriating that land. Can you expropriate just an easement on land? The Grand River Trail between Bridgeport and Kiwanis Park is another stretch that is affected by private property issues. Officially that section is closed, solely because the footing on a bridge is eroding away and the City of Kitchener can't or won't bring equipment in to repair it due to having to cross private property to do so.
What exactly are the rights of the municipality with regard to expropriation? Where there are long-standing trails in place, there seems to me to be a strong public interest in expropriating that land. Can you expropriate just an easement on land? The Grand River Trail between Bridgeport and Kiwanis Park is another stretch that is affected by private property issues. Officially that section is closed, solely because the footing on a bridge is eroding away and the City of Kitchener can't or won't bring equipment in to repair it due to having to cross private property to do so.