bylaws

A woman with a large hat holds a sign on a beach that says "Beach Access for All"

Stronger coastal protections needed in Nova Scotia, Queens councillors say

December 12, 2024 by Rick Conrad

Region of Queens councillors want to work with other neighbouring municipalities to pressure the province to resurrect the Coastal Protection Act and possibly to come up with their own version.

The Nova Scotia government under Tim Houston killed the long-dormant Coastal Protection Act in February. Supporters of that legislation said it would beef up safeguards for coastal areas around Nova Scotia.

Instead, the province said it would pass that responsibility onto municipalities to come up with their own bylaws to protect the coast from development, climate change and other threats.

But many municipalities say they don’t have the resources to enforce such wide-ranging rules.

District 3 Coun. Courtney Wentzell said he wants the Region of Queens to band together with other regions like the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg to come up with a common set of rules.

A raised garden bed has big green vegetables growing in them. Two people are standing behind the cedar box looking at their garden.

Couple challenges Smithers town bylaw for room to grow veggies

July 11, 2024 by Pamela Haasen

Sally Harvie and Kayhan Ghatavie planted two cedar raised boxes in their front yard on Second Ave in Smithers. Two weeks after the boxes went up, they received a letter from the town requesting that they take the boxes down because they interfered with snow removal, according to Bylaw No. 846.

Kayhan Ghatavie told Smithers Council on Tuesday July 9th that “boulevard boxes” as they are known, have massive benefits toward food sustainability, mental health, and the biodiversity of the plants offer many environmental benefits as well.

The town Chief Administrative Officer, Michael Dewar told the couple they could leave their boxes up until September 2024, but that until a revision to the Bylaw was finalized, they would receive a fine if they are left up any longer.

CICK News talked to Harvie and Ghatavie about why they think the city should change its policy towards boulevard boxes.

A small reddish one story brick building with two sets of stairs leading to the front door. There are windows in the front of the building and a reddish peaked roof over the front porch. A sign in front of the building reads "Village of Dorchester Municipal Office".

Village of Dorchester bylaws and other documents not accessible due to contamination issues

June 28, 2024 by Erica Butler

Tantramar clerk Donna Beal is the custodian of all official documents for the municipality. But while the documents for the town of Sackville and municipality of Tantramar are under Beal’s direct care, those of the former village of Dorchester are out of her hands, and have been since shortly after amalgamation in January 2023.

“All former Village of Dorchester files are currently in decontamination and staff have no access to these files at this time,” wrote Beal in response to a CHMA request for a copy of an existing Dorchester bylaw.

The village office was closed down around January 30, 2023, says Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne, and “we lost access to everything within the office.”

The ongoing issues put the municipality in contravention of Section 75 of the Local Governance Act, which says that bylaws must be available for public review in the office of the clerk during normal hours.

A woman sits at a table with papers, a computer, and a microphone in front of her.

No enforcement until Sunday shopping bylaw snafu can be rectified, says CAO

May 17, 2024 by Erica Butler

Retail stores in Sackville will not have to worry about getting fined for opening this Sunday, according to Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne.

On Tuesday, Tantramar council approved the repeal of a 20-year-old bylaw that exempted Sackville businesses from the province’s Days of Rest Act, which limits who can be open on Sundays. The goal was to lift a restriction on hours of operation for Sundays, but resulted in leaving Sackville businesses at the mercy of the provincial act.

Jennifer Borne says that wasn’t intentional, and the town is now taking corrective action to rectify the situation.

An aerial photograph of a lush green property with large green trees surrounding it.

Proposed bylaw zoning amendments for Airport Way tourist accommodation receives mixed feedback

May 10, 2024 by Melissa Jameson

A proposal to amend two zoning bylaws for a property on Airport Way in rural Revelstoke to allow for the development of a small tourist accommodation received mixed feedback during a recent public hearing on May 2.

While some were supportive of the bylaw amendments, others said they were concerned about increased traffic volume and potential erasure of the current rural lifestyle if the amendments are approved.

The owner of the property*, located at 4762 Airport Way, has been operating as a vacation rental since 2018 under a temporary use permit issued by the CSRD. The current permit is set to expire this month.

The property owner is seeking to change the Official Community Plan designation for the property from small holdings to resort commercial, and to rezone the property from small holdings to Resort Commercial 2.

*The name of the developer was not disclosed at the hearing. Stoke FM reached out to the CSRD for the name but they declined to provide it.

A group of government officials and support workers sitting in modern black office chairs around a circular-like and hollow conference table. A large flat screen monitor hangs on the far wall, showing a political meeting's web streamed proceedings.

PEC Council amends short term accommodations rules to make them more family friendly

September 18, 2023 by Alexander Wright

On Tuesday (Sept. 12), a small but significant change to the Short-Term Accommodation (STA) by-law was approved, which restores the allowance of one under ten-year-old child per licensed guest room that permits two guests.

South Marysburgh Councillor John Hirsch explained the rational for the amendment and the desire to fix an unintended consequence of the new STA by-law, passed last year:

“When we made changes to the by-law, at least its operation in 2022, it seemed we got rid of the intent that had originally been enacted in 2018, to allow children not to count in the per-bedroom limit.”

According to county staff, children ten and over will still count as regular guests, due to the fire code.