City council voted this week to receive a report from the senior bylaw officer that introduces the concept of a “good neighbour” bylaw, and referred it to the planning and operations committee for further review.
The purpose of the report is to consolidate and update many of the city’s current bylaws that deal with residential property issues. The report states that there are approximately 17 existing bylaws, including eight which could be consolidated into the proposed “good neighbour” bylaw. This would then allow the rest to be eliminated.
Coun. Surinderpal Rathor said he’s looking forward to seeing how the bylaw shapes up, and Coun. Ivan Bonnell stated that it may make city bylaws clearer and more understandable for people.
“I have had experience with a ‘good neighbour’ bylaw in another city and I think we really need to do our due diligence,” Coun. Sue Zacharias said.
“I look forward to seeing the plan that comes back — we really need to look at the pros and cons.”
Coun. Geoff Bourdon said that the new consolidated bylaw would likely make things easier.
“We would hand out a bylaw saying, ‘Here’s how we deal with problems on residential properties,’” he said.
“It would be a one-stop place for information so everyone would know the expectations.”
The good neighbour bylaw report will be referred to the planning and operations committee for further review, and then go to the committee of the whole council for recommendations.