Athabasca County Community Peace Officer (CPO) Ryan Alice is reminding county residents they need to keep their properties appearing in half-decent shape — especially as unsightly properties, if not addressed, can garner up to a $10,000 fine for owners.
The CPO has the authority to administer fines on the grounds of a property being in an unsightly condition that is a nuisance to neighbours.
Alice enforces Athabasca County’s property review bylaw and approaches residents who are reported to have “any use of or activity upon any premises which is offensive to any person acting reasonably.”
“We want to take the approach of working with the landowner,” said Athabasca County communications coordinator Alex Denonville. “So, when the complaint is made, instead of immediately issuing a ticket, we want to go there and talk to them, and say, ‘Can you work with us to kind of address these issues?”
Alice’s work is initiated by complaints from community members.
After the protective services committee appointed by county council determines if a complaint is valid, attempts are made to resolve it.
The accused may receive a “notice of visit” from an enforcement officer. They are encouraged to contact the officer to “work out a game plan for remedy of the situation,” according to Alice in a written statement.
The protective services committee will be forwarded the file if no contact is made with the officer, under the assumption the accused is not interested in working towards a solution.
The committee may determine that further investigation is warranted, in which case the CPO would approach the accused landowner and inform them their property is unsightly or that they are a nuisance.
An unsightly condition is defined by Athabasca bylaws as “in respect of a structure, a structure whose exterior, relative to the adjacent land and land uses, shows signs of significant physical deterioration.”
It is also defined as “in respect of land, land that shows signs, relative to the adjacent lands and land uses, of serious disregard for general maintenance and upkeep.”
To be a “nuisance,” according to the bylaws, is to be in “any use of or activity upon any premises which is offensive to any person acting reasonably, or has or may be reasonably expected to have a detrimental impact upon any person or other premises in the neighbourhood.”
The bylaws go on to state that unruly vegetation, the generation of excessive emissions like dust or steam, storage of dilapidated vehicles and their parts, and failure to dispose of appliances, old posters and garbage, are all offences.
The penalty for such offences, depending on circumstances, ranges from a $100 to $10,000 fine and/or jail time for not more than six months.
If the accused wishes to question the complaint, the county’s property review abatement appeal board comes into play, according to Alice.
Alice said it is highly subjective to define what are reasonable expectations from neighbours, as what could be regarded as “offensive” and having a “detrimental impact” on other people’s quality of life varies from person to person.
Of a member of the public filing the initial complaint, Alice said, “I can’t say one way or another that they’re not feeling that way, so basically all they can do is give us a call and file a complaint, and then we follow our process from there.”
His policy is to try to educate the accused to the greatest extent possible to attempt to resolve the problem without having to issue any penalty.
Most of the time, he said, members of the public have been quite receptive to his concerns and were even unaware that they were causing any disturbance. Alice said he is then able to take appropriate steps to resolve the situation.
“Ultimately, the county would like to work with all residents — both those who feel a property may be in an unsightly or nuisance condition and those who have had complaints filed against them. The end result is a safer and respectable community,” stated Alice in a written statement.
