ATHABASCA – The Town of Athabasca will consider the best way to ‘sharpen policy teeth’ to deal with unsightly properties and better enforce community standards.
During their Aug. 15 meeting, town councillors voted 7-0 to defer further conversation to the 2023 council retreat after reviewing a submission from a resident vying for a new community standards bylaw, who stated in a July 18 e-mail to all members of council Athabasca “has fallen behind the times in regard to other communities that are making strides in improving people’s lives.”
The e-mail submission was accompanied by a copy of the Town of Legal’s community standards bylaw, a 20-page document regulating a range of topics, from where vehicles cannot be washed or parked and panhandling in public places to maintenance and upkeep of private property, including lawn and garden standards and snow and ice removal.
Although many clauses covered by the sample bylaw are included in various existing town policies, discussion centred around how to best increase the level of enforcement while balancing the burden to administration.
Council considered implementing a new bylaw for community standards tailored to Athabasca’s priorities, or reinforcing the wording and fee structures in the existing bylaws to pack more punch — options requiring no small effort on behalf of administration.
“I think we need to take the right time to put something in place that’s going to have teeth so that we can see an improvement,” said mayor Rob Balay, who cited enforcement issues related to unsightly properties since council began their term in 2021.
Coun. Jon LeMessurier and Coun. David Pacholok both expressed interest in slating this topic as priority, while councillors Sara Graling, Ida Edwards, and Edie Yuill noted an overhaul of all relevant policy would be a “massive undertaking.”
Graling suggested councillors do their part to ease the administrative burden, stating “as councillors, the things that we are feeling very strongly about, we should take the responsibility to work through,” and present suggestions or identify aspects of policy that could be strengthened. Balay presented the option to hire a consultant for bylaw review as council did previously in 2018.
A more in-depth discussion on the magnitude of a review and which direction council feels is most efficient will take place during the upcoming council retreat in October.
