The City of Castlegar is set to adopt a good neighbour bylaw, combining a couple of existing bylaws that deal with noise control and property maintenance.
Legislative services manager Nicole Brown presented the revised bylaw to council this week, explaining staff have reviewed practices in other municipalities and found that many use a single bylaw to govern nuisances.
In her report, she said neither of the old bylaws had been reviewed in 14 years and some areas were “vague and open to broad interpretation which has caused concerns or frustration for residents and staff in their ability to enforce.”
The report said the revised bylaw “Simplifies interpretation and expectations for residents and staff, updates outdated language and closes any regulatory gaps, [and] provides tools for staff to respond consistently and fairly to concerns.”
Among other things, the bylaw restricts noise between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. and requires people to keep their grass no more than 30 centimeters tall.
Council had a lengthy discussion before approving the bylaw, which is expected to be formally adopted later this month. They were told the bylaw is intended to be flexibl and enforcement will remain complaint-driven.
“It can’t be so prescriptive that [bylaw officers are] getting called out for every little offense,” city manager Chris Barlow said. “The bylaw officer is going to go in as a trained professional and understand what’s reasonable in each case. The bylaw leaves space for that.”
Barlow said bylaw officers are empowered to use their judgement depending on the context of the incident.
“We’re not necessarily going around and trying to get into everybody’s business,” he said. “We’re really trying to allow people to live, enjoy their properties.”
Barlow said only when things become “unreasonable” do the bylaw’s provisions kick in.
