Town of Osoyoos council sent a very clear message last week that it’s willing to do whatever it takes to get local property owners to keep their homes and yards clean and up to community standards.
A local homeowner who has been warned by the town for several years to clean up the giant mess in his backyard appeared before council last week and was told to clean up once and for all by June 5.
If he doesn’t, contract crews will be brought in to bring the property up to standards and the homeowner will have to pay for it.
Under the town’s Good Neighbour Bylaw, there are certain standards that have to be met relating to unsightly premises.
As one councillor pointed out, there appears to be more and more of these complaints being registered by disgruntled neighbours with each passing year.
Not every homeowner in Osoyoos – or anywhere else for that matter – is going to keep his or her property in perfect condition with a manicured lawn, perfectly trimmed trees and yard that belongs on the front of Home and Garden magazine.
However, not cutting the lawn and weeds for years on end and filling the backyard with numerous vehicles that are sitting there falling apart and turning into giant junk piles is simply unacceptable.
It was made very clear last week that the property owner in question simply doesn’t want to play by the rules like everyone else has to.
If he doesn’t adhere to these final warnings, he’s going to be on the hook for a very large bill as he was given a long list of things he must do to clean up the mess and bring his property up to community standards.
The good news is the majority of property owners take great pride in home ownership and go above and beyond to make their homes and property look good.
It’s not unreasonable to expect homeowners to cut their lawn, trim the hedges, remove piles of junk, take out the garbage and basically be a good neighbour.
Thankfully, there is a process in place to force the hand of the few who don’t want to play by the rules like everyone else has to.
If council didn’t take the action it has, it’s very apparent the property owner would continue to do nothing and the state of disrepair on his property would only get worse.
That’s not fair to any of his neighbours.
It’s unfortunate that municipal leaders have to resort to having to issue warnings and ultimatums to local taxpayers, but they simply had no other choice in this matter.
Kudos to them for refusing to play nice any longer.
