Of babies and bathwater

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/07/2024 (444 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s the little things that matter, and on those, the City of Winnipeg talks tough enough.

Here, for example, is what it says you have to do with your yard.

“The owner/occupant of a property is responsible for the maintenance of their property, which includes the conditions of the grounds, fence and accessory buildings.

“For example: noxious weeds must be controlled on a property; fences must be maintained in weather-resistant condition by application of paint or preservative and kept in good condition; properties must be free from any accumulation of dog or animal wastes; properties must be maintained so that litter, refuse or other debris do not accumulate so as to be unsightly; properties must kept free of derelict vehicles or auto parts; accessory buildings must be maintained and be protected with a weather-resistant paint or preservative.”

And grass? Your grass (and any attendant weeds) has to be less than six inches long. Not if the weeds are deemed to be noxious ones, though. Noxious weeds have their own regulatory regime. Oh, and you’re responsible for the boulevard, too.

Untrimmed grass carries an administrative fine of $150, for example. Post a yard sale sign too soon? That’s a potential $200 fine. No street number on your property on the back lane? Another $200 fine. Animals? Well, allowing mosquito breeding on your property is a $100 penalty. Keeping more than 150 racing pigeons without specific authorization is $200. If the pigeons escape your loft, another $200. And the list goes on.

Have a neighbour who violates any of those issues, at least as far as you’re concerned? Well, contact the city at 311.

And while that implied threat may be enough for you to keep yourself, and perhaps your neighbours, in line, that doesn’t seem to be the case so much for the bigger things.

Generally, fines for corporations violating bylaws are double what the average homeowner faces, But that doesn’t mean the method of deterrence-by-fines is successful.

Every downtown resident in this city seems to have a vacant, derelict or semi-demolished property story that, if it’s not taking place on their own street, is at least happening in their neighbourhood.

Vacant buildings that get broken into over and over again, that are used as squats, that burn and then burn again, and that then spend months, years or even — in some cases — decades as near-rubble. Last week, concerns were raised as a warehouse on McDermot Avenue began to crumble, with the city seemingly unable to take action. It seems very much as if there’s one set of rules for the ordinary city resident, and something else again for others.

And it all begs the question of whether or not the City of Winnipeg is a functioning, consistent, even-handed operation, or whether it’s just — as the old DC-3 aircraft used to be described — a collection of random parts flying in loose formation.

Case in point?

There’s a house on Arlington that caught fire well over a year ago. The doors and windows are boarded up, though more than half of the burned-out roof has collapsed into the upstairs, and flocks of pigeons cycle in and out.

The house next door went on the market earlier this year, and it’s hard to imagine that the condition of its neighbour didn’t have some impact on the sale price.

The burned-out building is also for sale, though the realtor’s sign — which points out the property is already zoned for a four-plex build — fell over months ago and is lying face-down in the grass.

Lawn looks OK, though.

It’s all a matter of priorities.