Important Bylaw Change Proposal For St. Catharines

[nittro]

OPEN HOUSE DATE: NOVEMBER 13, 2012 at 6:30 p.m., in Committee Room 1, Third Floor, City Hall, 50 Church Street. The Planning Services Department is hosting an Open House with respect to a proposed City Wide zoning by-law amendment to the provisions/restrictions relating to recreation vehicles including travel trailers, camper trailers, pick-up campers, motor homes, boat trailers, boats, recreational trailers and utility trailers in residential areas. The City wants your comments on this application before a staff recommendation is finalized and a decision is made by Council.

Copy and paste this link to your browser to find the notice on the City of St. Catharines web site.

http://www.stcathari...VMymgeQuAleQuAl

Click on the "attachment" notice to view the advertisement with a map that was posted in the Standard.

You will notice there are no details regarding any possible changes.

When this was brought to my attention, I visited the Planning and Development Services department at City Hall. I spoke with Britney Williamson in an effort to obtain some detail on what was in the works. She explained that currently the by-law is not consistent across the city or the Niagara Region, and that the city wanted to move towards a singular by-law for all residential areas. In the newspaper ad you will notice the city map is divided into 11 zones. Number 8, which is Glenridge, has a by-law amendment that does not allow any recreational vehicles to be parked in residential areas. The remaining zones have no restrictions.

Britney pointed out that other towns in the Niagara Region limit recreational vehicles in residential areas to an overall length of 23 feet and that was their current target for all of St. Catharines. As example, if you have an 18 to 19 foot boat with an outboard motor, your overall length ...... that's from your coupler to the prop ..... will just fall under the proposed maximum length permitted. Larger boats , motor homes, etc. would not be permitted.

I do not believe that the "Old Glenridge" area will readily give up their restriction. So it remains with all concerned to attend the open house on November 13th and protect your right to reasonable use of your property. A call to your Councillor and/or the Mayor would also be prudent.

The Mayor of St. Catharines is Brian McMullan.

St. Catharines wards and councillors are:

Ward 1 Merritton: Jeff Burch and Jennifer Stevens

Ward 2 St. Andrew's: Matthew Harris and Joseph Kushner

Ward 3 St. George's: Peter Secord and Greg Washuta

Ward 4 St. Patrick's: Mathew Siscoe and Mark Elliott

Ward 5 Grantham: Dawn Dodge and Bill Phillips

Ward 6 Port Dalhousie: Len Stack and Bruce Williamson

This link will take you to a map of the city wards.

http://www.stcathari......pdf#Ward Map

If you have any questions regarding the by-law or the open house, you can contact Britney Williamson at 905-688-5601, ext. 1704.

Please share this information with like minded individuals.

I hope to see many of you at the open house at City Hall on November 13th.

[Botchegalupe]

Municipalities don't want RV vehicles or boats stowed permanently on driveways due to constant complaints. Most bylaws state that nothing can be parked within 1.5 metres of the front lot line. The front lot line in a subdivision runs parallel to the street 33 feet from the centre of the road. The area between the lot or street line and front lot line is known as the boulevard. This where you will find sidewalks, street lights and fire hydrants. Few people are aware that you can't cannot park a vehicle that part of your driveway that falls within the boulevard. I once had a neighbor whose driveway looked like a used care lot. It almost always had large RV and 4 or 5 vehicles parked on it. He also had at least 1 car parked on the street. When neighbors complained the municipality would do nothing until we pointed out that many of the vehicles were parked within 1.5 metres of the front lot line and in the boulevard. The had no choice but to enforce the bylaw. When they rewrite the bylaw pay attention to the minimum distance you can park near the front lot line. They may try to shorten it.

[smerchly]

Thanks for the info Nitro . When they built a new road here they asked me if I wanted a double space for a 2 car driveway which I had using the extra long ditch culvert . When I park either truck in that space , they are within 1 foot of the curb . Many neighbours have similar driveways on my side of the street . The other side has sidewalks & all the newer houses have very short driveways which means the vehicles are very close to the sidewalk with about 8 ft. of boulevard . We have no boulevard with the grass right to the curb . I should be concerned if they start enforcing these bylaws , but they would have to change the curbing structure for many houses . We should be informed by the city of their intentions .

[Botchegalupe]

Another thing to note is that municipalities are trying to quietly change from complaint driven to proactive compliance system of bylaw enforcement. Police are not allowed to enter your property without a search warrant, but bylaw enforcement officers can enter at will to enforce compliance, and there is not a thing you can do about it. There was an incident in Clarington two years ago where an family had held a yearly cookout for family and friends on a their rural acreage. The local bylaw officer showed up, despite no complaints, and started questioning guests as to what they ate and the reason for the gathering. He then charged the owner with running an illegal conference centre. Municipalities are strapped for cash and will be using these bylaw enforcement officers to make up the shortfall.

[smerchly]

Wow ....that is really reaching ! If I had a yard gathering of friends or relatives to have a fish fry etc.& some dude showed up asking what we ate & a reason for the gathering , he will need to call the cops after wearing a pot of fish oil .........This isn't communist China here .....yet .....

[Botchegalupe]

Fonthill has recently had a few problems with over zealous bylaw enforcement officers.