Editor's note: This article has been corrected. An earlier version incorrectly quoted Coun. Barb Evoy.
CENTRE WELLINGTON – Not everyone feels the new county-wide noise bylaw is specific enough to make a difference in their neighbourhoods.
Approved during a council meeting Monday evening, staff said the revised and updated county-wide noise bylaw was created to address the growing needs of residents and respective enforcement agencies.
According to the township's municipal law enforcement officer Satnam Chauhan, changes include a broader "deference," more enforcement tools and will allow for township-wide enforcement rather than specific residential areas.
"Based on what we've changed, I think we've captured as much as possible as we can while being respectful of what the other municipality's needs are while meeting ours," said Chauhan.
However, Staci Baron a resident who delegated during the meeting said she believes that Centre Wellington's noise bylaw needs to be stricter to protect downtown residents from the "live band war" and other noises that occur on downtown patios every summer.
Comparing Centre Wellington to "sleepier towns" like Minto or Puslinch, Baron said she felt additional tweaks specific to the township were needed to accommodate the area's growing tourist population and evening activities.
"I have been looking forward to a new bylaw that would cover off our downtown and I'm really disappointed in what has been produced," said Baron, during her delegation.
Coun. Barb Evoy shared some of Baron's concerns about wording ambiguity in the bylaw and live music on downtown patios interfering with neighbouring homeowners.
"If there's one bar here and one bar here, both hosting live bands, this is going to be a problem," said Evoy. "And I'm not sure that we looked at Elora as its own unique space and what that small streetscape looks like when everybody wants to have entertainment."
She also expressed discomfort with "putting so much" on the township's bylaw officers and their "limited resources."
"There are some points that we can tweak and that we can fine-tune. We still have a little bit of time for that stuff," said Evoy. "It's not that I don't deeply appreciate (staff) efforts but...I would like to see some of those items addressed that were shared (because) there were some very valid points."
Municipal clerk Kerri O'Kane defended the bylaw saying the ambiguity was intentional and important for enforcement and prosecution purposes. She also clarified the bylaw needs to be identical to the county's other townships for the OPP to enforce it.
"We just have to be cognizant of the fact that...the noise bylaw cannot be our only tool," said O'Kane. "We can't put the onus entirely on the noise bylaw to fix this...and perhaps (residents) need to each do their own part in being good neighbours."
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
