Bylaws with bite

Joe Millican - Abbotsford News Published: April 15, 2009

Placing a For Sale sign in your vehicle’s window, sleeping in your car, or parking it more than 30 centimetres from the edge of a curb – they’re all offences under City of Abbotsford bylaws, and each one can potentially hit you right in the wallet. Parking misdemeanours, in particular, have gained profile over the past week. Last Wednesday, Jurgen Schilbach told The News about a $150 ticket he received for a “For Sale” sign in the window of his insured car parked on the road beside his house. The city later revoked that fine. Another Abbotsford resident wrote to say she received $400 in tickets from having two uninsured vehicles parked on her property, and another two parked against the flow of traffic. Both homeowners said they did not receive a warning, and had no idea the bylaws even existed.

They are likely not alone in their unawareness of the law. Abbotsford has more than 150 bylaws and a catalogue of related rules. Parking alone has more than 30 infractions for which the city can issue tickets, as detailed under its Street and Traffic Bylaw. Other non-parking offences for which someone could at least potentially be ticketed, include flying a model airplane before 8 a.m., playing your car stereo loudly, and having more than two dogs on your property. Those offences all carry $150 fines. Acknowledging it’s unreasonable to expect the average resident to know the intricacy of every local law, Abbotsford Mayor George Peary is calling on bylaw officials to issue warnings, rather than automatically write a ticket. So residents know the rules they are breaking, Peary also said he would prefer to “serve notice” by publicizing specific bylaw campaigns in advance. That was done recently during a crackdown of unlicensed and wrecked vehicles parked on lots.

“I don’t want bylaw enforcement officers out there writing tickets for a first offence,” he said. “They should be dealing with our citizens and helping to educate them.” Peary said he understands there may be a perception the city is focusing on its bylaws to generate revenue in the midst of a funding crunch, but that is not the case. “I do not see bylaw enforcement as a cash cow. My primary concern is people obeying the laws, and not that we generate maximum revenue from people who do not realize they are in contravention of a bylaw,” he said. The city now has an appeals process for bylaw offences, Peary said. That involves a person bringing their ticket to city hall and having it scrutinized by a bylaw officer. If they are still unhappy, Peary said they can have their case heard by a retired provincial court judge who has been hired by the city.

Grant Acheson, the city’s general manager of development services, said the bylaw department tries to be “empathetic” in its approach. Acheson also said that generally, the city will issue a warning before writing a ticket. That warning may not occur if there are safety issues connected to the bylaw infraction, he said. Many bylaws were created to deal with extreme cases, Acheson suggested.For example, he said the bylaw addressing people who sleep in their cars may have been created to crack down on people who were living in their vehicles. “It’s not intended to deal with the guy who feels tired and pulls his vehicle over onto the side of the road.”