ATHABASCA — Breaking your sidewalk with a shovel before 7 am could get you fined twice under the Town of Athabasca's new Community Standards bylaw.
The new bylaw, which has been three years in the making and replaces four previous separate bylaws unanimously passed third reading at town council's Nov. 5 meeting after little discussion around the table. (Coun. Sara Graling was absent for the vote.)
“Finally, Jon,” said Mayor Rob Balay to Coun. Jon LeMessurier, who has been a staunch advocate for the creation of the regulations since the start of current council’s term.
First reading of the new 22-page draft bylaw took place at the Sept. 3 council meeting, and second was approved two weeks later on Sept. 17. The final draft presented for third reading looked slightly different than the versions previously approved after review by the town’s legal department.
“Panhandling does have some charter challenges, so that has been removed,” said CAO Rachel Ramey.
Past drafts had panhandling as an offence under the public behaviour section, for which persons found guilty would have been liable for a $250 fine for a first offence and $500 and a court appearance for second and third offences, respectively.
She also noted the section on weed management was removed from the final draft of the bylaw and will be covered under a new policy update in the coming months.
As a result, the new legislation replaced four previous bylaws: the noise bylaw, public lands bylaw, and an amendment to as well as the nuisance and untidy or unsightly premises bylaw.
For LeMessurier, ensuring the community is kept in a state its residents and officials can be proud of is the aim of the new legislation, including both residential and commercial property.
“When I ran for council, one of the things I definitely wanted to see was businesses within our downtown core being brought back,” said LeMessurier in an interview after first reading. “A lot of these businesses that looked derelict, with broken windows, I wanted to see that improved.”
The previous nuisance and untidy or unsightly premises bylaw was two pages containing 11 clauses which covered dangerous structures and excavations, unmaintained property, and a timeline for rectification.
In the new bylaw, the unsightly property section — one of 23 different sections — contains 20 clauses which range from how to properly secure derelict or abandoned buildings, compost storage and disposal, and the storage of garbage, building materials, and vehicles and vehicle parts.
New and notable
The new bylaw also contains a change in quiet hour times, which will take place nightly from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., instead of the previous 6 a.m.
Other notable inclusions cover causing injury to a sidewalk by way of “striking, picking or cutting the same with any shovel, pick or other metal instrument,” or by applying chemicals which may damage the surface. Damage resulting from ice melt substances or other snow and ice removal attempts are not exempt from the offence.
The act of leaving a shopping cart in a roadway or right of way is now an offence under the bylaw, as is leaving large deposits of mud, dirt and gravel on roadways from construction or earth-moving equipment that would require clean up.
Posting signs, posters, pictures, playbills, and more on town property without written permission from a designated officer is not permitted under the bylaw, but residents can still use the community bulletin boards outside the post office and Johnny’s Eatery.
Under the public behaviour heading, injuring vegetation on public property is not allowed, nor is the use of bows and arrows, catapults, or similar devices.
The town’s bylaw officer has the right to ask any group of three or more individuals gathered in a public place to disperse if they believe on reasonable grounds the gathering may disturb the peace.
Also included is a clause denoting “no person shall paint, chalk, stencil or mark any advertisement, legend, or sign of any kind whatsoever on any town-owned lane, roadway, sidewalk or pavement unless authorized.”
“It’s just consistent with what we saw with other municipal community standard bylaws,” said Ramey in a Nov. 7 follow-up.
All offences are subject to a $250 fine for first offence, $500 for the second, and a third offence within a year will result in a mandatory court appearance and a fine of up to $10,000 as decided by the court.
Individuals issued orders to comply under the bylaw can appeal the order by sending a written submission to the town requesting review within 14 days of receiving the order. Requests for review come with a $50 price tag, but if council rules in favour of the appellant, the fee will be refunded in full.
