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Town of Creston
Consolidated to
February 11, 2020
Bylaw No. 1813
A Bylaw relating to the care and maintenance of private property and adjoining public
places within the Town of Creston.
WHEREAS Sections 62 and 64 of the Community Charter empower Council to enact
regulations governing the appearance and maintenance of Property and public places;
AND WHEREAS the Council wishes to regulate property maintenance within the Town of
Creston;
NOW THEREFORE, the Council of the Town of Creston, in open meeting assembled, enacts
as follows:
Part 1 Citation
1.1
This Bylaw may be cited as "Property Maintenance Bylaw No. 1813, 2015".
Part 2 Severability
2.1
If a portion of this Bylaw is held invalid by a Court of competent jurisdiction, then the
invalid portion must be severed and the remainder of this Bylaw is deemed to have
been adopted without the severed section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph,
clause or phrase.
Part 3 Previous Bylaw Repeal
3.1
Town of Creston Bylaw No. 1306, cited as "Property Cleanup Bylaw No. 1306", and all
amendments are hereby repealed.
Part 4 Definitions
In this Bylaw,
"Authorized Representative" means a person appointed or designated by Council for the
purposes of administering and enforcing this Bylaw, and includes the Town's Public Safety and
Compliance Officer(s), Director of Municipal Services, Town Manager or any designate
assigned temporary duties by an individual holding the before mentioned positions.
"Boulevard" means the landscaped portion of a Highway, such as a grass strip between the
travelled portion of the roadway and the adjoining Properties or the center strip of a Highway
dividing traffic travelling in different directions, and includes curbs, sidewalks and ditches.
"Building" means any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or
occupancy.
"Council" means the duly elected Council of the Town of Creston.
"Garbage" includes rubbish, refuse, ashes, filth, discarded materials and the bodies or parts of
vehicles or machinery.
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Page 2 of 6
"Graffiti" means a drawing, printing, picture, writing or other mark scratched, sprayed, painted
or scribbled or otherwise inscribed on a wall or other surface, but does not include a sign, art
installation or mural for which a Permit has been issued by the Municipality.
"Harbourage" means shelter or refuge.
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"Highway" includes a public street, path, sidewalk, walkway, trail, lane, bridge, road,
thoroughfare and any other public way.
"Infestation" means evidence of the ongoing presence of Pests or Vermin as determined by
the Town's Authorized Agent.
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"Land" means land as defined in paragraph (b) of the Schedule to the Community Charter.
"Improvements" means improvements as defined in the Assessment Act.
"Lawn" means an area of Land, excluding water, on residential or commercial Property, or the
part of a public garden, park or other public place that is covered with grass or other ground
cover and is to be kept mowed.
"Municipality" means either, depending on the context,
a) the corporation of the Town of Creston, or
b) the geographical area encompassed by and incorporated as the Town of Creston.
"Occupier" has the same meaning as in paragraph (b) of the definition of occupier in the
Schedule to the Community Charter.
"Owner" shall have the same meaning as set out in the Community Charter.
"Pests and Vermin" means a rodent or other destructive animal that may harm or spread
disease to vegetation, food, pets, livestock or humans.
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"Property" means Land with or without Improvements and includes a Highway.
"Public Place" means any Property owned or occupied by a local government, the Province of
British Columbia or the Government of Canada and includes any highway, boulevard, sidewalk,
park, and walkway.
"Refuse" means refuse, garbage or other material, which is noxious, offensive or unwholesome
and includes but is not limited to any of the following:
a) discarded construction or demolition material
b) furniture and mattresses
c) clothing
d) inoperative appliances, furnace, heater, fuel tanks, electronic goods
e) machinery
f) tires
g) a Vehicle that appears, by reason of its appearance, mechanical condition or lack of
current licence plates, to be inoperative.
h) yard waste
"Unsightly" means property having any one or more of the following characteristics:
a) the accumulation of Refuse, brush, discarded materials, water or Graffiti;
b) fences characterized by holes, breaks, rot, crumbling, cracking, peeling or rusting;
Bylaw No. 1813
Page 3 of 6
c) landscaping that is dead, characterized by uncontrolled growth or lack of
maintenance, or that is damaged;
d) a lowering in quality of the condition or appearance of a building or structure or parts
thereof characterized by holes, breaks, rot, crumbling, cracking, peeling, rusting or any
other evidence of physical decay or neglect or excessive use or lack of maintenance; or
e) any other similar conditions of disrepair and deterioration regardless of the condition of
other properties in the neighbourhood.
"Vehicle" has the same meaning as vehicle in the Motor Vehicle Act.
"Warning" means a Warning issued pursuant to Part 7 of this Bylaw.
"Yard Waste" means the accumulation of refuse, including garden material or vegetation with
the exception of a structured and well-maintained backyard compost pile.
Part 5 Prohibition
Accumulation
5.1
No Owner or Occupant of Property within the Municipality shall cause or permit Refuse
or water to collect or accumulate on the Property.
Graffiti
5.2
No person shall place Graffiti or cause Graffiti to be placed on a sidewalk, wall or
building, fence, sign or any other structure or surface in or on private Property or a
Public Place in the Municipality.
Refuse
5.3
No person shall litter, deposit, throw or discard bottles, broken glass or other Refuse
in any open place in the Municipality.
Unsightliness
5.4
No Owner or Occupant of Property within the Municipality shall permit or allow the
Property to become or remain Unsightly.
Part 6 Property Standards
Property Maintenance
6.1
No part of this Bylaw shall be deemed to prevent the lawful storage and keeping of
material in or on any non-residential Property, if a lawful use, requiring that the material
be kept or stored, is conducted on the Property and the materials are stored in a neat
and orderly fashion.
6.2
The Owner or Occupier of Property, at their own expense, must keep the Property clean
and free from
(a) buildings or other structures that are dilapidated or collapsed, and
(b) graffiti.
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Page 4 of 6
6.3
The Owner or Occupier of a Property must not park, store, leave or allow any
mechanical equipment, vehicle, trailer, boat or a remnant or any part of them that is in a
wrecked, discarded, dismantled or inoperative condition to be parked, stored or left on
the Property, unless the Property may be lawfully used for that purpose.
6.4
The Owner or Occupier of Property must, at their own expense,
(a) mow and maintain, at a height of not more than 20 centimetres, any lawn on the
Property;
(b) remove, trees or other plants, or prune limbs or branches of them, that are dead,
diseased, decayed or damaged; and,
(c) plant and maintain hedges, shrubs, trees or other plants in a manner that does not:
(i) obstruct the safety of the public;
(ii) affect the safety of vehicular or pedestrian traffic;
(iii) constitute an obstruction of view for vehicular traffic;
(iv) wholly or partly conceal or interfere with the use of hydrants or water valves;
(v) overhang or encroach upon any pavement, sidewalk or travelled portion of a
Highway abutting the Property.
Boulevard Maintenance
6.5
The Owner or Occupier of Property fronting onto a Boulevard, at their own expense,
must
(a) keep the Boulevard free from garbage or other matter, debris and objects that might
create a health, fire or accident hazard; and
(b) maintain the Boulevard to a standard that includes, but is not limited to, mowing a
lawn on the Boulevard in accordance with Section 6.4(a) of this Bylaw.
Pests and Vermin
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6.6
The owner and occupier of a property shall ensure that the following situations are not
created or allowed to exist on the property:
(a) infestations of pests or vermin; and
(b) any condition, matter or thing that provides, or may provide, food or harbourage for
pests or vermin.
6.7
Where infestation in contravention of Section 6.6 exists, the owner and occupier of the
property must abate the infestation by
(a) the use of traps and other self-abatement measures, including the removal of any
condition, matter or things that provide food or harbourage for pests or vermin; or
(b) a monitored pest control program with a Certified Pest Control Agency, until such
time as the infestation has been effectively abated as determined by the Town's
Authorized Representative.
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Page 5 of 6
6.8
Where infestation is abated through the use of a monitored pest control program
pursuant to Section 6.7(b), the owner and occupier must
(a) maintain pest control records as created by a Certified Pest Control Agency; and
(b) produce pest control records for review by the Town's Authorized Agent upon
demand.
6.9
Carcasses of dead pests or vermin shall be double-bagged and disposed of by
(a) placement with the solid waste regularly collected from the property; or
(b) drop-off at a designated landfill.
PART 7 Right of Entry, Inspection and Warning
7.1
An Authorized Representative of the Municipality may enter on Property within the
Municipality in accordance with the procedures prescribed in Section 16 of the
Community Charter for the purposes of
(a) inspecting and determining whether all regulations, prohibitions and requirements of
this Bylaw are being met; and
(b) taking action authorized under Section 17 of the Community Charter.
7.2
No person shall obstruct or interfere with an Authorized Representative in the exercise of
the powers conferred on the Authorized Representative under this Bylaw.
If an Authorized Representative considers that an Owner or Occupier of Property has
contravened any one or more provisions of this Bylaw in relation to the Property, the
Authorized Representative may issue a Warning to the Owner or Occupier of the
Property to comply with this Bylaw.
7.3
The Warning must
(a) be in written form and delivered by certified mail or in person by an Authorized
Representative to the Property Owner, with a copy sent to the Occupier, if any;
(b) describe the Property by municipal address, location or legal description;
(c) give reasonable particulars of the repairs, demolition, clearing, clean-up or other
measures described in the Warning;
(d) give the Owner or Occupier fourteen (14) days after delivery of the Warning to
respond to the Municipality with a plan to remedy the contravention; and,
(e) outline the procedure for appeal of the Warning (Part 7).
7.4
If the address of an Occupier is unknown or the Town is unable to effect service on an
Owner or Occupier in accordance with subsection (7.4) of this Bylaw, a placard setting
out the terms of the Warning may be placed in a conspicuous place on or near the
Owner's or Occupier's Property.
Bylaw No. 1813
Page 6 of 6
PART 8 Right of Appeal
8.1
The Owner or Occupier of the Property may appeal the Warning issued under Part 7 of
this Bylaw by submitting to the Town Manager written reasons for appeal, prior to the
expiry date of the Warning.
8.2
Upon receiving the appeal of the Warning, the Town Manager will direct an inspection of
the Property, and after consideration of the Inspection report, notify the Owner or
Occupier of the Property, in writing, that the appeal is allowed, i.e. the Warning is
cancelled, or the appeal is denied and the Warning is confirmed.
Part 9 Remedy and Penalty
9.1
If the Owner or Occupier of the Property fails to comply with a Warning by the date of
expiration, and if no appeal is filed under Part 8 of this Bylaw or an appeal is denied, the
Municipality may either
(a) issue a Bylaw Notice pursuant to Bylaw Notice Enforcement Bylaw No. 1760, as
amended from time to time; or
(b) carry out, in accordance with Section 17 of the Community Charter, the action
required in the Warning, by the Municipality's own forces or by a contractor(s), in
default of, and at the expense of, the Owner or Occupier to take the action.
9.2
The costs incurred by the Municipality in any exercise of its powers herein shall be the
responsibility of the Owner and may be recovered as a debt from the Owner or Occupier
or, if not paid by the 31st day of December in the year in which they incurred, may be
recovered under Division 14 of Part 7 of the Community Charter in respect of the
Owner's Property as taxes in arrears.
For each day that a violation of any provision of this Bylaw continues past the date of
expiration of the Warning issued under Part 7 of this Bylaw constitutes a separate
offence.
READ A FIRST TIME by title and SECOND TIME by content this 14th day of April, 2015.
READ A THIRD TIME by title this 14th day of April, 2015.
ADOPTED this 28th day of April, 2015.
"Ron Toyota"
"Bev Caldwell"
Mayor Ron Toyota
Bev Caldwell, Executive Assistant
Appendix "1" to
Bylaw No. 1813
INDEX OF AMENDING BYLAWS
Bylaw #1906 ...................................................... Adopted February 11, 2020
NOTE TO USERS
"WHEREAS each bylaw consolidation shall be
proof, in the absence of evidence to the contrary,
of the original bylaw, of all bylaws amending it
and of the fact of passage of the original and all
amending bylaws", pursuant to 'Authority to
Consolidate Municipal Bylaws No. 1533', which
was adopted on the 11th day of June, 2001.