The Municipality of Colchester County office, located on Church Street in Truro. Brendyn CreamerTRURO, N.S. — Dangerous and unsightly property was the first topic of discussion at the monthly Colchester County council committee meeting held recently.
This includes properties with ashes, junk, derelict machinery, accumulation of a material that poses a fire hazard, and other hazardous materials. While the bylaw would mainly contain the same information as the Municipal Government Act, a county bylaw would"tighten the time frame for issuance of remedial orders in the case of subsequent offences."
The draft bylaw states the owner of the property would be granted no more than 30 days to complete the work on their first offence. In the case of a subsequent offence, the owner would be given no more than seven days to complete the work.For any work that is left uncompleted on a dangerous and unsightly property, the municipality has a right to come in and do it themselves. The property owner would be liable to pay any associated costs. These would be payable to the municipality.
Any subsequent offences will see owners being fined between $2,500 and $5,000, or 30 days imprisonment in default of payment.For the time being, there are no grass height regulations, but it could be considered when an inspector looks over a property reported as dangerous or unsightly. Coun. Lisa Patton put a motion on the floor to reject the landscaping bylaw, stating she wouldn't,"touch this with a 10-foot pole." All voted in agreement.Coun. Tim Johnson said he had issues with one property owner in his district regarding dangerous and unsightly properties.Johnson asked if outstanding fees could be collected prior to when property taxes are due, but James said they would be paying more for staff to chase down money than what the fees are worth.