Unsightly Premises, Nuisance, Noise, Loitering, Panhandling and Public Disturbance Bylaw; Bylaw 2022-06 — full text

This is an automated transcription (OCR) of the captured official document — minor recognition errors are possible; the source document governs. Snapshot 3e5a1c503c0c · verified 2026-06-08 · original document · archived snapshot · unofficial consolidation, the official version is held by the municipal clerk.

## TOWN OF WAINWRIGHT BYLAW 2022 - 06 A BYLAW TO AUTHORIZE THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF WAINWRIGHT, IN THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES IN ORDER TO PREVENT AND COMPEL THE ABATEMENT OF NOISE, NUISANCES, LOITERING, BULLYING, UNSIGHTLY PREMISES, PANHANDLING AND PUBLIC DISTURBANCES WITHIN THE TOWN LIMITS. WHEREAS pursuant to the provisions of the Municipal Government Act, R.S.A. 2000, Chapter M-26, as amended, a municipality may pass bylaws respecting nuisances, including unsightly properties; AND WHEREAS under the same act, a municipality may pass bylaws respecting people, activities and things in, on or near a public place or place that is open to the public; NOW THEREFORE the Council of the Town of Wainwright, in the Province of Alberta, duly assembled, does hereby enact: ## PART 1 - TITLE AND DEFINITIONS ## 1.1 TITLE olse. Lolterina. l ## 1.2 GENERALLY IMPLIED Vherever the sinaular or masculine is used throuahout thi vaw. the same shall be construed to mean the olural or temininı respectively where applicable. ## 1.3 DEFINITIONS For the purpose of this bylaw: "Chief Administrative Officer" means the Chief Administrative Officer appointed by the Town or a representative authorized by him/her; "Council" means the Council of the Town of Wainwright; "Disturbance" means any interference with the ordinary or customary use of a premises or a public place by a member or members of the public; "Fence" means a vertical physical barrier constructed to delineate a piece of land, provide sound abatement, or prevent visual intrusions or passage of persons, vehicles or animals; "Graffit" means words, figures, letters or drawings scribbled, scratched or sprayed on a surface with or without the consent of the owner of the property on which they are placed; "Highway" means any roadway within the meaning of the Traffic Safety Act; "Indecent Act" means nakedness, sexual or lewd activity in public; "Loitering" means to linger or hang around in a public place or business where one has no particular purpose; "Municipal Property" means structures, equipment or things owned by the Town; "Nuisance" means any situation, use or activity upon any property which is offensive to any person acting reasonably, or has or may be reasonably expected to have a detrimental impact upon any person or other property in the neighborhood and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes the following: - the failure to cut grass, weeds or other vegetation, - b. the causing of opaque or dense smoke and permitting such smoke to be emitted into the atmosphere, unless specifically permitted by an authorized Town official, - c. the generation of excessive dust and permitting such dust to escape from the property, - d. the emission of an unpleasant odor and permitting such odor to escape from the property, - e. the use of any pesticide which has significant detrimental or environmental effect on surrounding property, - f. the failure to control or eliminate insect pests harmful to the growth and development of trees, shrubs or any vegetable or plant life, - h. the storage or accumulation of or failure to dispose of discarded or dilapidated furniture, household appliances, scrap metals, scrap lumber, cardboard, tires and motor vehicle parts, - g. the storage or accumulation of dilapidated vehicles or the storage of vehicles in excess of the number of vehicles permitted in the Community Standards Policy, - i. the failure to dispose of any rubbish or garbage accumulated upon any property, - k. the failure to maintain a fence and the fence's structural components, - j. the posting or exhibiting of posters, signs, billboards, placards, writings or pictures upon any fence or wall where the same are accumulated and become in a dilapidated condition, - I. the failure to remove graffiti, - m. unreasonably interferes with the use and enjoyment of any highway, park or other public area, - n. unreasonably interferes with the use and enjoyment of private property, - o. causes injury to the health, comfort or convenience of an occupier of land, and - noise, littering, fighting, the accumulation of water or othe auids on a propertv. or the presence of unsanitar conditions on a property. "Panhandling" means a request or solicitation made verbally or otherwise for the gratuitous provision of money or goods from another person, but, does not include a solicitation allowed or authorized pursuant to the Charitable Fund-Raising Act, S.A. 1995 c.4.5; "Peace Officer" means a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a community peace officer appointed under the Peace Officer Act, S.A. 2006, Chapter P-3.5, and amendments thereto, or a bylaw enforcement officer appointed for or by the Town; "Person" means any owner, agent, lessee or occupier including a corporation and the heirs, executors, administrators or other legal representative of a person or corporation; "Public Place" means any place, whether publicly or privately owned, where a person is habitually allowed to go without needing special permission; "Town" means the Town of Wainwright, a municipal corporation in the Province of Alberta, and where the context so requires means the area contained within the corporate boundaries of the Town of Wainwright; and "Unsightly Condition" means: - a. a structure whose exterior shows signs of significant physical deterioration relative to the adjacent land and land uses, or - b. land that shows signs of serious disregard for general maintenance and upkeep relative to the adjacent land and land uses. ## PART 2 - PROHIBITIONS ## 2.1 NUISANCE OR UNSIGHTLY PROPERTY No person being the owner, agent, lessee or occupier of any property within the Town shall permit such property, or the activities upon such property, to be or become a nuisance or be in an unsightly condition. ## NUISANCE ON TOWN PROPERTY No person shall cause, permit or undertake any activity which constitutes a nuisance upon any Town property. For greater clarity, a Nuisance, in respect of human behavior, includes any activity which substantially and unreasonably interferes with another person's use and enjoyment of a highway, park or other public area or of land a person owns or occupies, or which causes injury to the health, comfort or convenience of an occupier of land, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes an activity such as a noisy party, a group of people making noise, loud music, car racing, revving engines, yelling, shouting, screaming, or fighting. ## 2.3 GRAFFITI No person shall apply or create graffiti. ## 2.4 NOISE, LOITERING, PANHANDLING AND PUBLIC DISTURBANCE No person shall cause a disturbance in or near a public place: - (a) by fighting, screaming, shouting, swearing, using insulting or obscene language; - (b) by being intoxicated or impaired due to the use of alcohol, cannabis, drugs, solvents or any other substance; or - (c) by impeding or molesting other persons. No person shall: - (a) loiter in a public place and in any way that obstructs or disturbs persons who are in that place; - (b) sleep overnight in a public place; - designated campground having paid the applicable fees; - (c) erect a campsite in a public place, other than in a - (d) spit on any highway, walkway, sidewalk, path or trail in the Town or upon a park or other property of the Town; - (e) disturb the peace and quiet of any persons by any other disorderly conduct in or near a public place; - (f) defecate or urinate in public on any private property or in or on a public place; - (g) perform indecent acts in a public place; - (h) engage in panhandling. ## PART 3 - REMEDY OF PROHIBITIONS ## 3.1 ENTRY ON LAND AND PREMISES A peace officer is hereby authorized to enter any land, building or property, except a dwelling house, to carry out an inspection for conditions that fail to comply with any provisions of this bylaw. ## 3.2 ORDER TO REMEDY PROHIBITIONS Upon completion of an inspection, the peace officer may direct the owner or occupant of the property to: - a. cease the activity which causes the prohibition; - b. change the way in which a person is carrying out any - c. direct any person to take any action or measure necessary to compel the elimination or abatement of the prohibition including the removal of any thing, or matter from the premises, which constitutes the prohibition; - e. notify the owner or occupant that if compliance with the notice is not effective within a specified time, the Town will take the actions or measures specified in the notice to abate the prohibition at the expense of the owner or occupier. - d. specify the time in which such person must comply with the directions contained in the notice; and ## 3.3 REMOVAL OF PROHIBITION The Chief Administrative Officer may authorize any Town employee or other person to remove and put in storage or destroy anything placed upon Town property, which is in contravention to section 2.2, and charge all associated costs to the person responsible for creating the prohibition. ## PART 4 - ENFORCEMENT ## 4.1 CONTRAVENTION Any person who contravenes any of the provisions or requirements of this bylaw is guilty of an offence and is liable for and subject to the penalty as outlined in Schedule A. ## 4.2 OFFENCE TICKET Where a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has contravened any provisions of this bylaw, he/she may serve upon such person an offence ticket allowing the payment of the specified penalty listed in Schedule A to the Town within 14 days of the issuance of the offence ticket. Such payment shall be accepted by the Town in lieu of prosecution for the offence. Service of an offence ticket shall be sufficient if it is: - a. personally served, - c. mailed by registered mail to the address of the offender, if known. - b. left with a person apparently over the age of eighteen (18) years at the dwelling place or place of business of the offender, or ## The offence ticket shall state: - b. the offence,- - a. the name and address of the offender if ascertainable, - c. the location, date and time of the offence, - d. the appropriate penalty for the offence as specified in Schedule A of this bylaw, and - e. that the penalty shall be paid within fourteen (14) days of the issuance of the offence ticket to avoid prosecution for the offence. ## 4.3 CONTINUING OFFENCE Unless otherwise stated in this bylaw, where contravention of this bylaw is of a continuing nature, further offence tickets may be issued by a peace officer, provided, however, that no more than one offence ticket shall be issued for each day that the contravention continues. ## 4.4 VIOLATION TICKET - 4.4.1 If the penalty specified in an offence ticket is not paic within the prescribed time period, then a peace officer is hereby authorized to issue a violation ticket regarding the offence in accordance with the provisions of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act, Chapter P-34, R.S.A 2000 and amendments thereto. - 4.4.2 Notwithstanding section 4.2, a peace officer is hereby authorized and empowered to immediately issue a violation ticket to any person who the peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe has contravened an! orovision of this bylaw - 4.4.3 A violation ticket issued under subsections 4.4(1) or 4.4(2) shall specify a penalty as described in Schedule A. ## 4.5 MINIMUM FINE The minimum fine for any contravention of this bylaw is $150. ## PART 5 - IMPLEMENTATION ## 5.1 REPEAL This bylaw shall repeal Bylaw 2018-14 and amendments thereto upon this bylaw coming into force. C ## 5.2 EFFECTIVE DATE This bylaw shall come into full force and effect upon passing of the third reading. READ a first time in Council this 27th day of September, 2022. READ a second time in Council this 27th day of September, 2022. READ a third time in Council and passed this 27th day of September, 2022. TOWN OF WAINWRIGHT  Larrie fau CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER  ## SCHEDULE A SPECIFIED PENALTIES | Section | Description | Fine 15t Offence | Fine 2nd Offence | Fine 3rd Offence | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------| | 2.1 | Nuisance or Town property S150 | | $300 | $500 | | 2.2 | Nuisance on Town property | | $300 | $500 | | 2.3 | Application or creation of $150 graffiti | | $300 | $500 | | 2.4 | Noise, loitering, bullying and $150 public disturbance | | $300 | $500 |