By Times Chronicle Staff

Unsightly premises and traffic were the two top things Osoyoos residents complained to the Town about this past summer, according to the latest quarterly update from the Corporate Services department. 

Administrative staff at town hall received 150 complaints over unsightly premises and 133 relating to traffic  (both dramatically up from 13 each in the same quarter a year earlier). 

Other top complaints revolved around roads and sidewalks (76), animal control (48), parks (22), and street lights (14) among others.

These complaints are also reflected in the bylaw infraction numbers which saw 130 follow-ups on the unsightly premises which resulted in 40 letters being issued to homeowners. These are both up from the similar quarter of 2023 in which 82 follow-ups led to 15 letters.

Numerous properties became unsightly due to the hot, dry summer conditions, the quarterly update noted, with Bylaw Officers spending “many hours” working with property owners to bring properties into compliance. 

The report also notes that work continues “towards compliance” on properties that remain unsightly, with quotes requested from local contractors to do the work (which the property owners will foot the bill for).

In the traffic realm, 133 follow-ups were undertaken with 24 tickets and 117 warnings issued. This compares with 3Q2023 when 130 tickets and 40 warnings were issued.

In presenting her report to council Marg Coulson, the recently appointed Director, Corporate Services (replacing Brianne Hillson) explained that the figures can be influenced by a number of things. “Let’s say, for instance, if we get a complaint in a particular area of bylaw infraction, and . . .  the officers to go in and have a look, and if they find a lot of [other] infractions that is going to drive the numbers up,” she said.

Coulson noted that one of the things that has lowered the number of bylaw infractions is the Park Ambassador who spent substantial effort educating residents and visitors about town bylaws which then helped reduce infractions. 

The park ambassador engaged hundreds of residents and visitors, walking an average of 18,500 steps each day, the report noted.

Bylaw Enforcement Officers also spent significant time educating the public on: 

  • Stage 2 water restrictions;
  • 2-hour parking down Main Street;
  • open alcohol, pets on the beach, and smoking within certain areas which Coulson noted all saw an improvement in compliance; 
  • no camping within the parks after 11 p.m.  (with the warm fall weather some visitors are still looking to camp).

The stats showed park bylaw infractions drop by over 50 per cent from 761 in the summer of 2023, to 312 this summer. Smoking violations accounted for 161 of these 2024 infractions, up from zero the previous year.

Other factors influencing the swings in statistics across time periods also include the length of time it takes for various aspects of bylaw enforcement such as tire chalking for parking enforcement where 40 or 50 cars can be done in an hour as compared to checking on an unsightly property which may take an hour in and of itself.

Animal control remained a busy area for bylaw enforcement officers with 163 infractions (including 48 warnings), and the report stating “many dogs have been surrendered this year.” It’s not known why this is the case but the report noted that town Bylaw Officers “have worked diligently with other organizations to help find suitable homes for these dogs.”

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPPA) requests came in at 13 for the third quarter of 2024, pushing the year-to-date number to 30. This compares to 13 in 2023, nine in 2022, eight in 2021 and four in 2020. 

Many of these requests are understood to have stemmed from the protests around the property tax hike; the cost of these requests is ultimately borne by taxpayers for the staff time used to process these requests.