Getting away with illegal construction, tossing garbage in the ditch or tying up to a public dock for months on end is about to get a bit tougher in the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD).
The SCRD board voted Thursday night (Sept. 23) to adopt the bylaw enforcement notice (BEN) system on a pilot basis. The BEN system differs from the current municipal ticket information system, which will also remain in place, by allowing bylaw officers to serve bylaw notices through the mail rather than in person.
SCRD bylaw enforcement manager Peter Longhi said the BEN system will allow the SCRD to go after people who flout bylaws, but live off-Coast and are virtually impossible to serve tickets to.
"We want to see complaints addressed if they are in fact valid," Longhi said. "There's nothing worse than a neigbour complaining about something and not seeing any action or seeing the regional district dragging its feet because we simply can't get a hold of the individual to serve the notice in person."
Under the BEN system, individuals who wish to fight a ticket will be able to appeal to a local adjudicator rather than in provincial court. Longhi said this is a less litigious and more efficient way for both the SCRD and individuals fighting tickets.
"That's an incredibly time consuming and staff-expensive process to dispute a ticket. A $50-ticket, for example, may cost as much as $3,000 to actually bring in front of a judge," he said.
Appealing the adjudicator's decision must be done in Vancouver Supreme Court though Longhi said that is a very rare occurrence.
He said the BEN system will not be used to "go fishing" for bylaw violators on the Coast and all the bylaw enforcement officers will still work on a complaint-driven basis. Serving a ticket will still be a last resort as violators will always be given several chances to correct any bylaw infractions before the SCRD issues a ticket.
"We don't issue a ticket point blank, necessarily, under most bylaw infractions. We show up, we speak to them we say to them 'did you know you've made a mistake here?'" Longhi said. "More often than not, once they're advised, they're quite anxious to correct it and carry on with life."
The board has been discussing the BEN system for over a year and half, raising questions about how it might unfairly target residents in financial hardship and how it can be best applied on the Sunshine Coast.
"We've been through it many times. We've asked many questions and we've had discussion and we have never made a decision not to do it," said board chair Donna Shugar. "We've just continued to ask questions and people have reached a point where they are ready to make a decision."
The SCRD's move to begin using the BEN system on some of its bylaws follows the Town of Gibsons who also recently adopted the system. About 50 local governments in B.C. are now using BEN.
