New rules may be on the way when it comes to backyard fires, the sale and use of fireworks, and noisy vehicles in Guelph.
City council wants to know how much staff time and roughly what cost would be involved in reviewing those bylaws, before deciding later this year whether it wants to re-open debate about them.
“These are concerns my constituents have asked me to work on,” Coun. Rodrigo Goller said when he raised the issues during Wednesday’s committee of the whole meeting.
Council also wants to know what other bylaw reviews, if any, staff recommends putting on hold to make way for potential new priorities.
Asked during Wednesday’s committee meeting for his immediate thoughts about what upcoming reviews could be pushed back, Doug Godfrey, the city’s general manager of operations, suggested the city’s “hold” on exotic dancer businesses could be one.
“I would love to see these reviewed,” Mayor Cam Guthrie said of the backyard fires, fireworks and noise bylaws, noting he’s been wanting to see the backyard fires bylaw reviewed for several years now.
Whether or not priorities for review change, Coun. Phil Allt said he believes looking at them is “worthy of consideration.”
“I think we have to address the rationale behind the things we do,” he said, referring to letting residents know why staff and council feels the bylaws should or shouldn’t be reviewed. “We owe it to the community to come back with something to say whether this is reasonable or something that is just beyond our capacity.”
However, some of the potential review priorities put forward on Wednesday may not make it as far as the October report, noted CAO Scott Stewart, explaining some could be quickly discovered to be impossible.
As examples, he said the city’s incoming fire chief who starts at the end of this month may immediately dismiss the idea of allowing additional backyard fires and the appropriate provincial regulations may not yet be in place to permit the use of noise cameras outside of Toronto, which has its own legislated powers.
Before staff efforts could begin, city council would need to ratify the committee’s decision at its July 25 meeting.
