THUNDER BAY — City officials believe they have found a middle ground on the proposed bylaw that would allow residents to plant gardens on city-owned boulevards.
“We're not getting all of everyone's hopes and dreams in there, but we're getting most of them, which I count as a win,” said Danielle Thom, climate action specialist with the City of Thunder Bay.
In December, city council heard a dozen deputations on what they wanted to see included in the bylaw and administration was tasked with looking into the implications of allowing shrubs, increasing the height limit on plants in planter boxes, adding further restrictions on pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides and fertilizers, and including plant support structures.
On Monday, council will be presented with the revised bylaw that now includes all of those revisions.
The planting of shrubs up to one metre tall will be allowed. They also must not have thorns or similar features that could harm pedestrians and cannot grow within one metre of another shrub, in set-back areas or in garden boxes.
The revision also sets the height limit for herbaceous plants to 1.6 metres, and allows plant supports within garden boxes and tomato cages. The supports must not be in set-back areas and are to be removed in the winter.
Environmental protection measures have also been enhanced – synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides and fertilizes are banned.
“We're really trying to find that balance between safety, so keeping sight lines and hearing clear for people living with disabilities in the community, while also allowing folks to garden as much as possible,” said Thom.
She added administration worked with the city’s accessibility advisory committee on the revisions to ensure there are no barriers to accessing public space.
Dense plantings, depending on how closely they are spaced and how tall they are, can hinder sight lines and the way sound travels for people with visual or auditory impairments, said Thom.
“There's been a lot of moving pieces in this and as such we've just had to meet in the middle on some stuff,” she said. “It's not necessarily going to be what everyone absolutely is happy with, but it's going to keep people safe and it's going to allow people to garden on the boulevard, so I count that as a success.”
On Monday, council can ask for further revisions or begin to move forward with the bylaw, which could lead to ratification by the end of February.
