After hearing concerns from the public, Bowden council has put off second reading of a proposed updated nuisance bylaw until the draft policy can be further amended.
After hearing concerns from the public, Bowden council has put off second reading of a proposed updated nuisance bylaw until the draft policy can be further amended.
A delegation of five people addressed council at its July 14 meeting regarding the draft bylaw, which received first reading on June 23 and expands upon the town's current policies and penalties dealing with unsightly premises, public behaviour and vegetation on properties.
Some of the concerns brought up at the meeting and in two written submissions about the draft bylaw included the possibility of people raising frivolous complaints, "vague" wording within the draft policy and residents being punished for not keeping their yards tidy.
Jennifer Aarts, who attended the meeting and submitted six pages of suggested changes to the draft bylaw, encouraged council to adopt a complaint resolution process similar to other municipalities— specifically a process that Rocky View County uses— to discourage frivolous or anonymous complaints.
The county's process calls for complainants to provide their name and contact information and Andy Weiss, Bowden's chief administrative officer, told Aarts the town's complaint process is "identical" to that of the county.
He added the town will not take anonymous complaints and all complaints must be in writing and include the complainant's contact information.
When Coun. Lloyd Lane explained to the delegation that the draft bylaw is really about creating guidelines to deal with problems that could become "hazards" to other members of the public, delegation member Arthur Lennox called on the town to provide more "rigorous definitions" within the bylaw to explain the town's intentions.
"Make it more specific, write in it about the danger," he said. "If it's a danger to someone then they should fix it and if they don't, then they can be fined."
Lane responded by telling Lennox bylaws are "not necessarily punitive."
"They're more for information."
Weiss added the town does not use enforcement as a "first tool" when a complaint is issued but instead tries to educate people about how they are violating town policies or infringing on the rights of others in the hope of making the subject of a complaint fix the problem before a fine is necessary.
"But it's also important to understand that visual aesthetics are as important as safety in the fact that something that is dilapidated and run down by community standards is not acceptable," he said.
Anyone who is the subject of an enforcement action, Weiss added, has the right to come before council to defend their position.
One part of the draft bylaw that received a great deal of discussion was a section that calls on property owners to keep grass and herbaceous plants under 15 centimetres tall.
In her written submission, Aarts said it was "absurd to make most flowers and vegetables illegal in Bowden."
Melisa Novak told council a bigger problem in the community is people using weed killer on their lawns.
"That is more offensive to me than 15-centimetre-tall plants or a car in the driveway," she said.
Aarts also asked council to temper a section of the draft bylaw that prohibits people from posting items such as "drawings and paintings," "posters" or "messages or pictures" on their property.
She suggested the words "within reason" be included in the wording of this section, arguing "garden art" can beautify a home and its surroundings.
"As long as it's not offensive and it's on your own property," said Mayor Robb Stuart.
Delegation member Keith LeBlanc asked council why anyone else should care if he were to give his child a spray paint can to paint on the side of his home.
Coun. Earl Wilson responded by saying such an action would affect LeBlanc's neighbours.
"If you spray paint the side of your house with spray paint, what's that doing to my house next door? It's bringing the value of it down, right?" he said.
Another section of the draft bylaw Aarts wanted removed prohibits vomiting in public.
In her written submission, she said "vomitting (sic) is the body's natural response to ridding the stomach of harmful substances; people often have no control over this."
Weiss said this section was not aimed at anyone who is sick but rather targets "deliberate" vomiting such as people intentionally throwing up on a particular property on the way home from a bar.
At the end of the discussion, Stuart promised the delegation their input would be considered and a committee formed to update the bylaw would amend the draft policy with their suggestions in mind.
Wilson added the public would be made aware of any new changes to the bylaw before it is brought back before council at its next meeting on July 28.
The draft bylaw is available for viewing on the Town of Bowden's website at http://www.town.bowden.ab.ca/ or at the town office.
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