THUNDER BAY — Property-owners with messy yards can expect to get a visit from the City of Thunder Bay's licensing and enforcement division this summer.
The yard maintenance by-law requires private property to be kept in reasonable condition.
The city can issue an order to force the owner to clean up, failing which it can hire a contractor to cut grass or remove debris.
In these kinds of cases, if necessary, the city will add the cost of the cleanup to the person's property tax bill.
James Coady, manager of Licensing and Enforcement for the city, says "What we're really concerned about is people who put house waste outside in their yard. In the heat or whatever it starts to stink, and animals get into it and spread it around. It becomes a nuisance for the neighbourhood."
Coady noted that standing garbage attracts wildlife and vermin.
The city, he said, also wants to ensure that residents are composting properly and keeping their grass below a certain height to discourage vermin.
Thunder Bay has recently experienced a growing problem with rats showing up in residential neighbourhoods.
Under the by-law, inoperative vehicles on private property can also be cause for complaint.
Enforcement of the yard maintenance by-law is a complaint-driven process.
If a neighbour phoned in a complaint, Coady said, "What we would do is take the information, go and investigate the complaint, determine that 'Yes, the property is in a very poor state,' then send the owner a notice requesting voluntary compliance."
If the owner ignores the notice, the city will send a contractor out, and bill the owner for the cost.
The bill could range between $500 and $2,000, depending on the nature of the problem.
According to Coady, "there are some huge, huge problems out there where it would be quite costly for a contractor to do it. There could be five or six loads of a big trailer to the dump."
He estimated there are from 10 to 20 such cases each year. "The lion's share will comply, and for that we're thankful."
Coady pointed out that in many instances, there is a social aspect to the problem.
"There are people who aren't capable or competent to have that work done, may be elderly and don't know who to turn to. If there's any help that neighbours can give in these situations, that would be helpful."
Coady said he would hope that all property-owners would realize how the state of their yard can impact the entire neighbourhood.
"People take pride in their yard and what it looks like, and it is offensive to see others who seemingly don't care."
