On January 27 Council meeting there is a motion by Councillor Anstey and seconded by Mayor Pellegrini asking the Province to strengthen our enforcement capability against illegal land use. I am very supportive of this resolution. In the resolution the numerous reasons for requesting more enforcement capability are identified and includes: the environmental risks caused by illegal land use; the cost to the municipality to try to enforce within our current capability which usually means there is very little gained by the effort; the undermining of public trust in land use governance because the perceived perpetrators are never stopped. The latter point really resonates with me. As a Councillor I have too many conversations with people who are so frustrated, often angry, that there is illegal land use next door and it continues on. I am asked why anyone should make a complaint when clearly nothing happens to change what is going on next door. I am asked why bother to get a permit for anything.
As always, if you want to make a deputation please register with clerks@king.ca by January 27. If you want to send an email to Council please send to clerks@king.ca an email by noon Jan. 27.
Re: Illegal land use
This is an exciting step in a bold and positive direction. No doubt action on the side of informants and subsequent enforcement will be fraught with complexities. Nevertheless, victory goes to the brave.
For more detail on the nature and variety of expected incidents, where could I search re: what besides zoning law infractions are considered misuse; i.e. manure storage? Littering? Chemical spraying?
Thank you for your caring stewardship of this land and society that is home to my friends of every species.
Our property standards bylaw would cover litter and perhaps manure storage. I don’t know if there is a bylaw which addresses chemical spraying. Your first step would be to contact Bylaw to ask if there is a Bylaw, which covers the activity which concerns you. Or, you can make a complaint and after their investigation, Bylaw will advise you whether there is a noncompliance issue, and if so, they will begin an enforcement process. If you look at the Bylaw map, you can see indicators of where there are complaints in process of being investigated and perhaps being enforced, depending on what the investigation has revealed.