Bylaw department pledges to get tougher on long grass, junky yards
Jun 17, 2009 - 03:16 PM
By Chris Hall
SCUGOG -- Vaughn Trimm is done playing the nice guy when it comes to dealing with shaggy lawns and unkept yards.
At Monday morning's municipal committees meeting, Mr. Trimm, Scugog's chief bylaw enforcement officer, pledged to get tougher on township residents reported to have minor property standard infractions.
One of the most common complaints called into the municipality is front yards that have more of a resemblance to a jungle or junk yard.
Typically, the Township can provide a grace period of up to three weeks for residents to mow lawns or remove unwanted debris. However, at the June 15 committee meeting, Mr. Trimm asked that the Township be able to move ahead with cleaning efforts, at the expense of the property owner, if work is not carried out within four days of a notice being issued by Scugog.
If the work is expected to cost less than $500, then the bylaw department can move forward with the cleaning at its own discretion, suggested Mr. Trimm. If it's to cost more, then such action would need council approval.
In turn, an invoice would be sent to the property owner. If it's not paid, then the sum would be added to the tax bill.
"It would afford bylaw services to act within 96 hours as opposed to 21 days on property standards," said Mr. Trimm.
He said that extensions may be granted in some cases, but that "after four days, bylaw can deal with it automatically. On the majority of small complaints, we can move immediately."
In some situations, such as vacant lots with long grass, "we'll deal with it much harder than we have been," said Mr. Trimm.
Generally, explained the chief bylaw officer, the Township has taken a gentle approach with its residents, more or less pushing them towards "voluntary compliance."
However, he added, "I would like to become a lot more tougher on these people. Ninety-six hours is enough time to cut your grass or clean up your property."
"We've been trying to be the nice guy, but it's time the bylaw office in this community has to stop being the nice guy," said Mr. Trimm. "Basically, it's got to be a hard enforcement."
Scugog Mayor Marilyn Pearce applauded the initiative, stressing that such a quick resolution to most cases should allow the bylaw department to deal with its large load of complaints.
"The complaints are now overwhelming our capacity to be the nice guy," she said. "There's an expectation from the public that if they call in a complaint, it will be dealt with in a timely manner. Simply, the volume (of complaints) is now overwhelming our capacity and to meet the public's expectations we're going to have to do this."
According to Mr. Trimm, his office had logged 20 complaints over the past week alone.
Also throwing her support behind the idea was Ward 2 Councillor Bobbie Drew, who noted Scugog residents "don't want their municipality to be a dump" and added that most property owners "take pride in their township."
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