City Council carried the first reading of the updated Unsightly Premises Bylaw on Dec. 3.
The Unsightly Premises Bylaw governs the state of appearance, maintenance, and tidiness in both residential and commercial properties within the city.
“This bylaw would enable municipal enforcement to act against complaints for which they currently lack the authority and avenues to address at this time,” said Peace Officer Sgt. Trever Bowman.
Typically, the Unsightly Premises Bylaw complaints municipal enforcement receive come from the surrounding neighbours of the properties.
Municipal enforcement received 96 complaints in 2019, which is a 31 per cent increase from 2016, Bowman said.
Although unsightly complaints have increased, most complaints can be resolved through education and verbal warnings. However, some cases require substantial resources in order to bring the property into compliance.
When municipal enforcement receives an unsightly complaint, an officer will attend the property, speak to the property owner to try and gain compliance through a verbal warning, and provide a timeline to have the property remedied.
If the property owner does not comply within the timeline, municipal enforcement will issue an order to have the owner clean the property.
If the property is not remedied by the time of the order, additional charges can be added against the property owner. At that time, the city may conduct the cleanup.
“Most unsightly complaints can be resolved through education and warning; that’s our goal. Very rarely do we have repeat offenders. However, they do exist,” Bowman said.
Adding, “The larger files of non-compliance can lead to a significant amount of staff time, and legal costs to prosecute the offenders.”
The terms of unsightly must be redefined to not only include the condition and appearance of a property, but also include properties that pose a threat to public safety, Bowman said.
Under the Unsightly Premises Bylaw, construction sites must be free of debris; the site must be kept in a safe and orderly fashion, all materials must be secure, and dumpsters cannot be overfilled.
The Unsightly Premises Bylaw also prohibits vehicles parked on front lawns instead of driveways or approved parking pads and dumping in rural areas.
“We did increase the fines. The fine increase was simply to cover our costs,” Bowman said.
Adding, “When we’re dealing with some of these cleanup’s, not only are they paying for staff time, but they are paying for legal costs, and equipment costs, it’s not simply us coming and cleaning something up.”
