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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-10-07, Page 17G.deictph SIGNAL— ST 133 YEAR -40 OCTOBER 7, 1981 GODERICH, ONTARIO Is your home your castle? Town can take action against neglect Man has always strived for and valued posessions and inherently a man's home has been considered his private domain, his 'castle. Canadians consider the right to own, maintain and develop property as a basic and essential extension of democracy. While economic conditionsare placing the goal of owning a home on lofty levels, it is still considered a good investment and forms the substance of dreams for many Canadians. The home is a private place and yet, it is a visible extension of the owner's personality, lifestyle and financial means. The home offers a reprieve from the rigors of the outside world, a sort of private setting. Canadians may ideally cling to the notion that property and homes are castles to be maintained and developed in a manner suitable to the owner, and essentially that's true.: However, over the last decade, municipalities 'have adopted and enforced standards on property owners to ensure that a certain measure of respectability is maintained. Those standards exist in the form of a Property Standards. Bylaw. Such a bylaw Was passed by the council of the town 'of Goderich in 1978, and the contentious document outlined municipal policy relating to the maintenance and occupancy.' of property in the community. Most, if not all, municipalities have established property standards and the. main reason is that municipalities require guidelines to participate ih government- • funded programs. To qualify for property improvement programs such as the Ontario Home Renewal Program (OHRP), the Neighbourhood Improvement Program (NIP), the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program . ( RRAP) and. Down- town Revitalization there must be a property mars gement program. The programs;in effect,assist the par- ticipating municipality or homeowner and encourage the improvement of the physical and structural resources of the community. Loans are offered • at reasonable rates to upgrade buildings and property, whether it's a downtown area, neighbourhood or single dwelling. The bylaw, effectively gives the town of Goderich authority to take action against neglect, homes in disrepair, and over- crowding or under -maintenance that could pose a threat to health. Also, the bylaw acts on behalf of conscientious homeowners, who have the right to report neglectful owners since neighbouring properties can adversely affect the appearance of a neighbourhood and the value of adjoining properties. While a homeowner has legal obligations under the bylaw, enforcement is not done in a rigid or dictatorial manner. Legal enforce- ment is only pursued when compromise and cooperation with the offending owner fails.. Commissioner of Works, Ken Hunter, explained there are few problems with enforcement and that most complaints are worked out to the satisfaction of all through cooperation, "We require a signed written letter from a neighlxour or someone and will investigate if the complaint is legitimate," he said. "We ' tell the owner who submitted the complaint if asked. We try to negotiate and nine times out of 10 it works." If a legitimate complaint is received, an order must be issued but through the cooperative efforts of the owner and building department, the deficiencies are generally repaired. Many offending homeowners _ have taken advantage of government -funded programs that offer low interest loans for minor residential repairs, to bring buildings up to standard. However, a homeowner has the option of appealing the order to the property stan- dards , committee, consisting of three .ratepayers. Since its inception, the com- mittee, consisting of chairman , Maurice Jenkins and members Martina Schneiker and Eric Kirk, has had only three hearings. •The property ' standards committee, in essence,' is an appeal board for orders issued under the bylaw. The committee will review a complaint if an appeal is made by the homeowner but their decision is not the final step in the appeal process. If the committee upholds the original order under the bylaw, theoffending owner has the right to appeal the decision to a judge. Hunter indicated that the bylaw has not prompted the building department to go on a witchhunt" but generally they act on ' writteri complaints. ' • "It is not a witchhunt. We usually act on written complaints but don't go out looking for little things," he said. "The bylaw is there to be used if the need arises." The property standards . bylaw is com- prehensive in scope and covers everything from sewage systems and accessory buildings to derelict cars and room sizes. The bylaw could have been drafted Iron), guidelines as prepared by the Ministry of Housing and ideally, the comprehensive list of standards, was aimed at larger municipalities. ""The bylaw takes in everything to the size. of cupboards and bedrooms which helps in larger cities to ensure that tenants. in a building have adequate space and living quarters," Hunter explained, "We even get a lot of petty complaints from neighbours about people who have weeds in their lawn and that sort of thing. The bylaw wasn't • designed for that." The bylaw is quite specific about condition of both the interior and exterior of a property, but many provisions are difficult to enforce unless a complaint is submitted. For example: the bylaw insists that all eavestroughs must be in good repair; rotted or damaged doors must be replaced; in- terior walls and ceilings must be reasonably clean, smooth and.free of cracks and holes; every habitable room, except a kitchen, shall have a window or windows, skylight, or glass area of an outside door that .faces directly outside; the maximum number of occupants in a dwelling is one person for every 100 square feet and every living room, dining room and kitchen should have a 'clearance of seven feet over at least three- quarters of the floor area. Bedrooms must be at least 60 square feet in size and if two persons sleep in the same room there must be 40 square feet of floor area for each one. The 'town has enforced sections of the bylaw and three buildings, underwent some reconstruction . while a fourth was demolished. One owner appealed to the committee and subsequently a judge beioe!c agreeing to reconstruct parts of the dwelling an d'demolishing other parts. Last year council got tough with owners of derelict cars and 35 residents were ordered to remove the offending vehicles. Simply removing the vehicle to the rear of the yard and covering it would appease the con- ditionsof the bylaw.' The bylaw isn't meant to restrict a per, son's right to property •but it does provide protection for . both the owner and surrounding owners against health hazards and deterioration of property value: For the most part, a man's home is his castle. But people's perception of comfort varies greatly. Under the Property Standards Bylaw of 1978, the town r as the aut i rity"to take action against residents whose building or property is in disrepair or conditions pose a health hazard. Even derelict vehicles that are abandoned, wrecked or dismantled cannot be stored in an ard. (s hoto b Cath Wooden) Man has always considered his home his castle and rightly so. However,- most municipalities in Ontario now enforce property standards to ensure that buildings and property are maintained to a certain measure of respectability. The bylaw gives the municipality the authority to take action where property conditions pose a threat to health or adversely affects the value and condition of neighbouring residents. (photo by Jason Ainslie) An autumn scrapbook by Cath Wooden • This time a year, a 200 mm camrramlens can make just about anything beautiful, from grasshoppers and thistles to black-eyed 8u.san5 and mil tr('('d.