Erin council is looking to revamp the town’s bylaw for the keeping of animals.
Wellington County planner Gary Cousins attended the May 17 council meeting to give an update on the issue.
After a complaint from a Hillsburgh resident about a neighbour’s pigeons in March 2012, council passed a bylaw in 2013 regulating the keeping of animals within the town.
The resident who owns the pigeons, Fred Byers, was charged under the Provincial Offences Act and he then appealed the bylaw to the Ontario Superior Court.
“Neither action seems to be moving forward at the moment so three years after passing your bylaw, people who would like to rely on it really aren’t in a position to rely on it,” said Cousins, who was asked to review the bylaw and make suggestions.
“Again I have to tell you, I’m not an expert in these bylaws, but we did look at it, we did look at the way other municipalities in Ontario regulate animals and in particular birds,” he said.
Cousins listed a few issues that could be addressed, including:
– the bylaw doesn’t distinguish between urban and rural areas;
– it does not regulate the number of birds allowed to be kept on the property;
– a 7.5-metre setback is more than most other bylaws, which have either 1.5 or 3m;
– other bylaws have 10-metre setbacks from churches, schools and residential dwellings; and
– other bylaws require coops to be escape proof.
Cousins added the 7.5-metre setback “was one of the major issues in the court case that is currently being looked at.
“I think the resident is concerned … that distance effectively puts him on a septic field so he couldn’t possibly put an enclosure for his bird or pigeons and meet the bylaw requirement,” he said.
Cousins provided the Town of Minto bylaw as an example, which prohibits chickens other than on farms but allows yearly exemptions for those that qualify.
“Minto was looking primarily at regulating chickens in their community and it was pretty controversial from what I understand, but they went through a process and came up with an approach to it,” he said.
Cousins provided two options. Option one would be to retain the existing bylaw but amend the setback requirements. The second would be to consider Minto’s approach.
Each councillor agreed the bylaw needed to be changed, focusing on option one.
Mayor Allan Alls said he wanted clear policies going forward.
“My only problem with the Minto solution, and I’ve talked to the warden (Minto Mayor George Bridge) about this, is the case by case, because I really don’t want to see this council tied up with people coming here all the time saying they want to keep birds in their backyard,” he said.
Councillor Matt Sammut asked how many people the bylaw change would be affecting, but chief building officer Carol House said the town does not have that information.
Councillors Jeff Duncan and Rob Smith said they wanted option one. Smith added the town should add a way for existing bird keepers to reduce their numbers gradually, “so they don’t have to go out and get a shot gun out and take care of half their fleet, so to speak.”
Council approved the report and directed staff to come back with a bylaw amendment as laid out in option one.
