Tantramar council has passed first reading of a new bylaw respecting dangerous and unsightly premises in the new municipality. Both Sackville and Dorchester had similar bylaws before they were dissolved, which established mostly complaint-driven processes that could be used to eventually require property owners to make repairs or clean up their properties.

While the new Tantramar bylaw is a carbon copy of those previous by-laws, it would extend to cover the full Tantramar municipality, which includes many rural areas.

Councillors Mike Tower and Barry Hicks both chimed in with concerns about how applying town and village standards across the municipality might backfire, especially when it came to items like wood shavings and sawdust. But it turns out changes to the bylaw aren’t possible, because the provincial act that allows municipalities to create dangerous and unsightly bylaws also dictates the bylaw itself, and it’s one-size-fits-all.

“What you’re saying is the way that it is set out by the Municipalities Act is we have the choice to have a dangerous and unsightly premises by-law or not, and if we choose to have it, this is the one we get,” said Coun. Allison Butcher on Tuesday.

Though the text of the by-law comes "as is," Mayor Andrew Black said the municipality would have discretion over how the bylaw was enforced.

“We can’t make adjustments to it, which is unfortunate,” said Black, “but in the enforcement of the bylaw, we can have some leniency as to what constitutes a violation or not.”

Acting treasurer Michael Beal, who has supervised Sackville bylaw enforcement for 20 years, said the complaint-driven system was always a challenge.

“What one person feels is unsightly may not be what the other person feels is unsightly,” said Beal. “A lot of times we are able to open and close these files through a discussion, through a just general communication,” he said. “There’s only been a couple of occasions in Sackville and I believe a couple in Dorchester where they’ve had to go to the next level.”

Beal also pointed out the the bylaw does not apply to legal uses of properties, meaning that farms and garages can’t be held to the same standard as a residential neighbourhood home.

Council voted unanimously to approve first reading of the by-law on Tuesday, with councillor Bruce Phinney suggesting approaching the province to help make changes to the bylaw in future. Mayor Black agreed, and also lamented the fact that the local governance reform process hadn’t already tackled the issue.

“This probably should have been talked about by the provincial government during the reform process,” said Black. “Another situation where I think it was an oversight.”

Council had previously discussed taxation issues in the new municipality, and with the added questions surrounding the limitations the province places on municipalities, Councillor Michael Tower wondered if Local Government Minister Daniel Allain himself might take an interest.

“Maybe we could reach out to Mr. Allain,” said Tower. “We can get him down here and run some of these things by him.” That prompted a laugh and a joke from the mayor. “Do you want me to get you his phone number and you can give him a call?” asked Black, with a smile.

The bylaw will now come back again to council for a second and third reading at their May meeting. Prior to that, the draft By-Law in its entirety will be posted on the Sackville and Dorchester websites and will be available for review with the Tantramar Clerk’s Office.

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