BY-LAW ENFORCEMENT:

 

The City has numerous By-laws (link here) dealing with issues of public interest.  Most by-laws set standards for matters affecting private land owners, public health and safety, and nuisance control in the City of Welland.  Standards prescribed in the by-law are intended to provide for the reasonable health, safety and well being of the residents, but are not intended to satisfy the specific desires of every individual.

Scope of By-laws

All property owners and citizens are responsible to ensure they comply with City Regulatory By-laws.  Examples of matters regulated by the City of Welland By-laws include:

• Junk/waste on private property
• Property use
• Tall weeds/grass
• Business Licensing (click here for Business Licence Application Forms)
• Exotic Animal
• Swimming Pools
• Fences
• Fireworks sale and setting off
• Heat in rented premises
• Noise
• Signs
• City boulevard use

Complaint Process & Questions and Inquires

City Regulatory By-laws are enforced on the basis of verbal or written complaints.  A complainant must lodge a complaint through the following office:

City By-law Enforcement Office

Engineering, Public Works and Transportations Services Department
Traffic and Parking Operations Division
Civic Square
60 East Main Street
Welland, ON
L3C 3X4

Phone: (905) 735- 1700 ext 2250 or ext 2252

E-mail:  bylaw_enforc@welland.ca

The office hours are 8:30am - 4:30pm.  There is no after hours enforcement.

The complainant must provide their full name, address and telephone number, for the complaint to be processed.  The complainant’s identity is necessary for several reasons, including future communication with the complainant for the purpose of obtaining additional information and keeping the complainant informed of the status of their complaint. The complaint must also identify the subject property if applicable, (the owners name, address and telephone number if known), and must contain specific details of the By-law contravention.  Only those problems identified in the complaint will be investigated.  Complaints will be investigated by the By-law Enforcement Officer in the order in which they are received.

Complaints from tenants will be processed in the manner described above, but only after the tenant has properly advised the landlord of the problems in writing and the landlord has been given a reasonable time to respond.  The City will not accept a complaint from a tenant unless it is accompanied by a copy of the letter to the landlord, and only if the landlord has not complied with the by-law in a reasonable timeframe.

City Investigation and Action

The BLEO will contact the owner, landlord or person responsible and in the case of a tenant complaint, confirm that they have received your request to remedy the problem, and enquire what action will be taken to comply.  The BLEO will arrange a suitable time for inspection to confirm the deficiencies, when there is no indication the problem is being corrected.

After the deficiencies are confirmed by the BLEO, an order for compliance will be sent to the owner, person or property manager listing the by-law contraventions and giving a compliance date for completion.  An inspection will be performed after the compliance date has lapsed to confirm if the matters have been resolved.  In instances where health, safety or nuisance are critical, legal action or other action may be warranted immediately.

Legal Action

Once the City has determined matters have not been resolved by the compliance deadline, the City may take legal action against a person or property owner.  Charges may be laid under the Provincial Offences Act.  The fine for not complying with a City Regulatory By-law is a maximum of $5,000 for a first offence, although some by-laws may have a higher fine.  The City will determine when charges will be laid, taking into consideration, the severity of the problem, the likelihood of conviction and the resources available for prosecution, given other current prosecutions.

Drainage Issues

Drainage issues are civil matters.  The City does not have a Drainage By-law.

Other Processes Available

If the complaint is concerning the condition of a building, the complaint should be lodged under the Property Standards process above.