BY JENNIFER HOEGG
NovaNewsNow.com
The Town of Windsor’s Minimum Standards Bylaw is not quite ready for prime time. With a number of concerns being expressed by councillors and members of the public, the proposed bylaw was referred back to planners and the planning advisory committee Nov. 27.
The bylaw arrived at the public hearing stage during council’s regular monthly meeting. A lengthy and detailed discussion between members of the public, municipal staff and town councillors took place. Mayor Anna Allen was pleased with the level of interest evident at the meeting, saying, “we really respect and welcome the input we’re getting.”
In fact, Deputy Mayor Andrew Kirk called the public meeting “one of our most productive 30 minutes of council.”
Jane Sodero, Senior Planner with Windsor-West Hants Joint Planning department, presented a summary of the intentions and content of the proposed bylaw. Sodero said the bylaw, drafted in collaboration with the Bylaw Enforcement Committee, was designed to “protect the health and safety of the public.”
Although the bylaw will apply to all homes, rentals or owner-occupied in Windsor, Sodero conceded it would mostly “address rental units, because (the bylaw) is complaint-driven. In HRM, very few complaints get to the point of generating orders and most are rentals.”
The bylaw covers safety, fire safety, egress, electrical, plumbing standards in line with the National Building Code and tries to set specific, objective standards for application of other legislation, such as the Province’s Dangerous or Unsightly Premises Act. As CAO Louis Coutinho noted, “unsightly to one person may be fine to another.”
Allen praised the intentions of the regulation. “If there’s an emerging or dangerous situation we act right away,” she said. “This gives us another tool to help those people who need it.”
Interferes with residents’ rights?
In response to questions from council, Sodero told the audience the municipality is allowed by provincial legislation to enact the bylaw and other municipalities, including Amherst, the Town of Antigonish and the Halifax Regional Municipality, have similar bylaws.
Once the floor was open to the public, most of the questions and complaints presented concerned the amount of detail within the document. Even suitable flooring for kitchens and bathrooms is outlined. Concerns about application of the bylaw to owner-occupied homes and whether it was a necessary interference with residents’ rights were put forward.
Richard Smith said the bylaw doesn’t take into account the special case of older buildings. “I can’t rip out walls and insert fire-stoppers,” he said, “There should be a grandfather clause for older homes.”
Smith worries that seniors in older homes would be put in difficult situations, unable to pay for necessary upgrades.
Sodero addressed the concern by specifying that the legislation applies the National Building Code. “The National Building Code is designed to take into consideration the age of the home.”
Pat Gould-Thorpe fears that lengthy remodeling projects and attempts to invest ‘sweat-equity’ in their homes may leave residents open to fines. Sodero said the legislation is not meant to be applied to older homes undergoing renovation. “As long as work seems to be going ahead, it will be okay. We’re not going out to get people.”
Object to set standards for interiors
Rob Lowe agreed “there should be a minimum standard for the outside” of homes, but he objected to standards being set for the interior of people’s dwellings. “I should have the right for the inside of my home to be whatever I like. But in a rental situation there may be people in conditions that are substandard.”
Albert Behri is in favour of the proposed bylaw, but echoed concerns about the level of detail involved. “I applaud the document as a proactive step forward, but there could be problem with interpretation. We should go back through it and see if there are some specifics that could be deleted.”
Would it be easier if the regulations only applied to rental units? Behri says no. “It needs to apply to everyone. Being a paramedic, I have seen some residences in desperate need of repair.”
Councilor Liz Galbraith presented several e-mail submissions from constituents about the bylaw. Her primary concern was that the bylaw wasn’t wanted or requested by the public and that it grouped.
“I find it ironic there are town buildings that wouldn’t meet these standards,” she said. Galbraith also expressed her dissatisfaction with the level of public input possible during the bylaw development and approval process.
When the public hearing concluded, Galbraith put forward a motion to send the bylaw back to the Planning Advisory Committee in light of the concerns expressed by the public. She also asked that the application of the bylaw to owner-occupied dwellings be reconsidered. Her motion was not seconded.
Instead, Council approved a motion to refer the bylaw back to the Planning Advisory Committee. The draft bylaw can be viewed at
www.town.windsor.ns.ca.
