(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Council to debate fines for problem properties

Jun 12, 2020 | 5:24 PM

A Prince Albert city councillor wants to start issuing fines to residences that police and bylaw officers are frequently called to.

“We know that there are properties in the community which generate tens, if not hundreds of phone calls due to the undesirable or illegal activity within the property,” Coun. Evert Botha told paNOW.

He said a bylaw aimed at the problem properties would help recoup some of costs of policing them, while potentially acting as a deterrent against future infractions.

“It costs a lot of money to send bylaw or the police out, and if we have four police vehicles arriving at the same time, you know, the costs are ticking,” he explained.

Council will discuss the potential bylaw at the next regular council meeting. If they like the idea, Botha said they’ll have to determine what qualifies as a nuisance call, how many of such calls should be tolerated per year at a property, and what the penalty will be when that threshold is reached.

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They’ll also have to decide who should be ticketed, the property owner or the tenant.

Ultimately Botha said he hopes his colleagues support his proposal. He’s tired of hearing complaints about the same homes over and over again.

“It’s affecting the neighborhood, the community, people aren’t safe and it’s not pleasant for people to have to deal with this on a continual basis,” he said. “So, you know, if it’s just a slap on the hand, every now and then people aren’t going to take it seriously. And we really, really need to address this.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom