By CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — The bylaw department of the Township of Whitewater Region is hoping council will pass a new bylaw that will allow bylaw officers to bypass the Property Standards bylaw.
Bylaw enforcement officer Doug Schultz and Jim McBain, whose company is contracted to the township to enforce bylaws, spoke to the protective services committee about a draft Clean Up of Yards and Vacant Lots bylaw.
The draft bylaw is to help process some of the complaints quicker regarding property standards, Mr. Schultz said. Explaining, he said if someone puts a couch out at the end of a driveway, it could take up to 20 days for it to be removed due to appeal periods in the Property Standards bylaw. This will simplify the removal of the couch sooner rather than later, he added.
Mr. McBain said in Whitewater Region, between 20 to 25 property standards complaints are investigated each year, most of them between May and November. Under the property standards bylaw, there are regulations that can be used that could possibly mean a complaint will not be cleaned up quickly, he said.
“The purpose of this (draft) bylaw is to deal with the simple issues,” he said. “Basically, it’s messy yards, cutting of grass, derelict vehicles in your front yard, that sort of thing.”
The Property Standards bylaw deals with more complex issues, such as interior structures, roofing, etc., Mr. McBain said.
The Clean Yards bylaw is limited to the aesthetic view from the street, which is about 80 to 90 per cent of the complaints, he explained. He would only act on complaints received via the bylaw officer’s complaint line or from Mr. Schultz.
Once the complaint is received, Mr. McBain can begin investigating it right away and if he deems it falls under this new bylaw, then the problem can be fixed within 72 hours. He said it’s much more effective for him to visit someone, bring the complaint received to their attention, have a discussion and find out what it will take to get the situation cleaned up.
For example, he said people put discarded couches at the end of their driveway and put a note on it saying it’s free. This just means they don’t want to take it to the landfill site, he said.
There are some people who don’t cut their lawns regularly and there are derelict vehicles in yards, he said.
Mr. McBain has prepared similar bylaws for other municipalities, which started in Arnprior, and there are other municipalities that have shown an interest in implementing such a bylaw, which is mostly dealing with the view from the street. He has created a generic bylaw with a common notice.
“It’s making it simple for everyone,” he said. “I’m trying to make it more efficient. Of course if you make it more efficient you are saving time, if you are saving time you are saving money.
“So, the least number of times I have to come out here, the better it is for the Township of Whitewater.”
Mr. McBain said he used the City of Kingston’s bylaw to draft the Whitewater bylaw, making changes where necessary, since this is a mixed community of rural and urban.
For those council members who do not believe this bylaw is necessary, he suggested that if it’s there, it’s available to be used.
“Don’t be concerned about how much is in there, or what’s in there,” he said.
He said if there’s something in there a council member doesn’t believe will be used, Mr. McBain said one day it might and instead of changing the bylaw, it’s already there to be used.
Mr. McBain said once council passes the bylaw, it has to be sent to the Chief Justice with short form wordings and set fines to make it enforceable under Part 1 of the Provincial Offences Act. He expects this could take about three to four months. If all goes according to plan, he expects the bylaw to be in place by May when there are usually complaints coming in.
If the order to comply is not met, Mr. McBain suggested it may be best to go through the Property Standards Bylaw, which is a more detailed process.
He noted once a complaint is investigated, there still has to be follow-up. This proposed bylaw would mean, “I can deal with it in an expeditious, efficient and effective way.”
Following up on a question about littering, he said if there is a 14-year-old who tosses litter onto someone’s property and there is a complaint laid, it’s the owner or tenant of the home who will be charged, because a young person cannot be charged.
Councillor Chris Olmstead said the proposed new bylaw will protect current property owners because someone who is building a new home cannot put up shacks.
“If we’re wanting to attract housing and that kind of development, then we have to protect people against putting up shacks or what-have-you,” he said.
He questioned if a complaint has to be filed to be enforced.
Mr. McBain said as far as he knows yes. However, he said people are reluctant to complain about neighbours and things can then get out of control if not handled.
“Some municipalities like me to patrol, and have said if you see something that really sticks out, then it’s obviously in violation, take care of it,” he said.
Mr. McBain said many times it’s not the property owner complaining. He said, for example, when someone goes to sell their house and there’s a problem with a neighbour’s property, it’s the realtor who’s asking for the property to be cleaned up. Without this bylaw, it could be months before there is a resolution, while with this bylaw, it could be cleaned up in less than a week’s time, he explained.
Many communities are involved in community improvement programs and this is a big item for many municipalities, he said.
By going with this bylaw, Mr. McBain said the issue is taken care of right away by the issuance of a ticket and it’s the municipality who is in control, not the property owner.
He said this bylaw is important for the municipality because council “has no idea” of just how much bylaw enforcement is required in Whitewater township.
“We don’t submit reports to you at this point and there’s probably a reason,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of time in Whitewater, and we like to make whatever time here operational. We don’t want to spend it behind the desk doing reports.”
Mr. McBain does provides Mr. Schultz with reports, but not council.
“Your property standards is a busy section,” he said. “Whitewater for me is one of the busier sections with respect to property standards and animal control. We have a lot of complaints on animal control.”
Councillor Cathy Regier questioned how this proposed bylaw would affect farmers, because many leave equipment in front and side yards that can be seen from the road.
“We have a lot of farmers in our area and my concern is some of these farmers keep these pieces of equipment, because God forbid they can use it down the road,” she said. “What happens in those cases? You know it’s such a tough thing.”
Mr. McBain said if a complaint were to come in regarding farmers, it would be treated the same as any other property. If the farmer is following the bylaw, then nothing would happen. He said if the piece of equipment is an active one, then it wouldn’t have to be removed. He said the farmer may be asked to move it, but he won’t have to.
However, if it’s not an operational piece of equipment, the farmer will be asked to relocate it out of sight.
There are different strategies for dealing with rural compared to urban, he said.
“If you don’t want to see farm machinery, don’t move to the country,” Mr. McBain said.
He has been out on the back roads of Whitewater and has seen several properties where he thought they should be cleaned up. He was out on a backroad earlier this week and saw a yard where there were 45 derelict vehicles and no one has complained.
“It just seems to be an accepted practice,” he said. “We’ve had those cases where I’ve had 225 derelict vehicles in Whitewater Region and it took me two years to clean it up.”
Mr. McBain said each municipality is different, except in one way.
“If there is a complaint, we have to act,” he said. “And I’m assuming you want me to act appropriately and you want me to act efficiently and effectively. This (bylaw) will help us do our job a lot better.”
Mr. Schultz said all inquiries are complaint driven in Whitewater Region. Sometimes Mr. McBain will look at the property and then talk to Mr. Schultz about it before acting.
“We know we are in a farming community,” Mr. Schultz said. “We know we aren’t going to tell somebody to move their tractor or something like that because we know this is a farming community.”
Coun. Olmstead recalled an incident in the township where a derelict building was torn down and “several hundred, even an estimation of thousands, of rodents” left the property and invaded nearby properties. The local hardware store “was wiped out of rodent killer” and the township didn’t have a “leg to stand on” to deal with the property owner who caused this invasion.
Following a question from Councillor Dave Mackay regarding derelict buildings in Beachburg, Mr. Schultz said if the issue is not brought to his attention it won’t be dealt with.
“If people don’t bring it to our attention, we don’t go out there to take a look,” he said. “It’s only complaint driven and when they bring it to our attention, or when council brings it to our attention that they want us to deal with it, we’ll deal with it, but, we’re not driving down the road to see what someone is doing with their property,” he said, adding, “That’s none of our business.”
When questioned by Councillor Daryl McLaughlin if complaints must be in writing, Mr. Schultz said yes. By putting it in writing, the person is serious about the complaint, he said.
“If they don’t want to put it in writing, it’s usually just two neighbours fighting and we try to stay out of that,” Mr. Schultz added.
Mayor Hal Johnson said written complaints are a great idea, but questioned how those who cannot write will make a complaint.
Mr. Schultz said as long as there is a name, address and phone number to go with a complaint, it will be investigated. It is possible to talk to the person over the phone, as long as the personal information is included.
The reason for the complainant’s information is in case the complaint has to go as far as the court system, there is a witness, he said.
However, Mr. McBain disagreed with Mr. Schultz.
“When we have a complaint, the complainant is never identified, absolutely not, otherwise no one would call,” he stated. “I have never called a complainant to court. The purpose of me doing my inspection is I go based on receiving the complaint. If I confirm the complaint, I am now the complainant so I have no need of a witness and you are protected. I guarantee confidentiality for that.”
Mr. McBain said this is only a draft bylaw. He wanted to see if the committee was interested in it, and if so, he would do a review and present the final bylaw at an upcoming meeting.
The committee agreed to pass the proposed bylaw in principle and will await Mr. McBain to bring a final copy to an upcoming meeting.
