Lucknow Sentinel, 2009-06-17, Page 3• nnnr' +--r . ....r _ r..'tr I . ',_..''3
Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - Page 3
Cheer goes out as council modifies bylaw
BY DENNY SCO'T'T'
Signal -Star Staff
An impromptu cheer rang out as
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh town
council decided to modify the hotly
debated Property Standards Bylaw to
not include agricultural lands.
The bylaw was voted upon during
their last meeting on June 2, with
Coun. Marilyn Miltenburg being the
only dissenting vote. With agriculture
lands exempted from the bylaw, it will
return in one week (June 16) to be
voted upon for urban centres.
It was standing room only (June 2) as
council opened the floor to the citizens
who turned out en masse to voice their
opinions about the newly proposed
rules that could cause potential prob-
lems for those in the agriculture sector.
Mostly farmers, the citizens were
concerned about how their land and
rights could be trampled on by this
bylaw. Others were concerned about
the Powers of Entry afforded to bylaw
officers and the definitions of yard and
refuse.
The bylaw contains some `restrictive
language,' as Reeve Ben Van
Diepenbeek explained, including
allowing "Officers, upon producing
proper identification, the right to enter
upon any property at any reasonable
time without a warrant for the purpose
of inspecting the property."
Under scrutiny was the definition of
yard, which, according to the bylaw,
includes anything not under a building.
This means that hard -to -use property
like ravines, or bushes, would be held
to the same rules as the front yard of a
resident in one of ACW's villages.
Questions focused around the need
and implementation of the bylaw.
Reeve Van Diepenbeek explained
that the standards bylaw is a two -fold
complaint. It was created in response to
requests by the community, and, if
implemented, those same citizens will
need to make complaints against prop-
erties to have the bylaw enforcement
officer examine potential breeches.
"We've been getting requests to beef
up the bylaw as it wasn't working the
way it was supposed to," said Van
Diepenbeek. "This bylaw is complaint
driven, it is not that we're driving
around the township looking for prob-
lems or a mess."
Council also discussed bringing a
new bylaw forward that was more
focused on agriculture land.
Other suggestions from residents
including charging people to make
complaints, to eliminate frivolous or
vengeance driven reports, and having
the Ontario Farmer's Association
brought in on the decision making
process.
Bylaw enforcement Officer Lorna
VanderPloeg was disappointed with the
decision of council, saying that if they
went ahead with the proposed split, she
would not be the one to enforce it.
"I will not do half a . job with half a
bylaw," VanderPloeg explained. "I
won't charge someone to complain
about a neighbour with bags full of
garbage at their front door, and I won't
tell ^"e person to do something when
someone else doesn't have to."
Submitted photo
Brookside Public School Students recent-
ly -took part in making a peace garden
that will bring a classroom outside for stu-
dents to explore nature in its natural habi-
tat. Students from all grades have been
helping to put the garden together. Greg
Boyle (Grade 6) and Braden Smyth
(Grade 6) dig around a post in order to
make sure it stays put for the garden
fence.
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