Bylaw needs legs to work

May 16, 2008

The City of Port Alberni is looking to Nanaimo for guidance on its nuisance building bylaw, a move we applaud.

Nanaimo’s system is multi-faceted, and requires the co-operation of many agencies, which is what makes it work so efficiently. Representatives deal with each nuisance complaint collectively, educating both tenants and owners of the affected properties.

Moreover, Nanaimo’s bylaw is crafted so that it is rarely enacted to its fullest extent. It includes steps that help bring about resolution – they’re meant to solve the problem, not simply penalize someone.

Setting up such a nuisance building bylaw is a novel solution for Port Alberni, but the city is ready for such a novelty – in fact, needs it.

If the city cannot deal with something as simple as a drug house, or something more complicated like the Frigstad Apartments or Beaufort Hotel, then what are citizens to think? If we cannot put weight behind such a bylaw, what sort of message are we sending to drug dealers or slum landlords?

City council is being asked more and more to become involved in issues that are really about solving crime – a departure from their normal business. But in a city that a national survey identified as having an undesirably high rate of crime, perhaps that’s a necessary course of action.

There are challenges to setting up a program similar to Nanaimo’s: we have one bylaw enforcement officer, and Nanaimo has seven, plus four full-time support staff.

The city will have to hire at least one more bylaw officer in order for a new nuisance building bylaw to be effective.

Setting up such a bylaw is not a cure-all, but it’s a step in the right direction. The city is to be commended for being so proactive in this case.

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Bylaw needs legs to work

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