Campbell River city council has given first and second readings to a bylaw that would impose a $250 fee for emergency calls deemed to be a nuisance.
At its Nov. 20 meeting, council received a staff report on how other municipalities are recovering costs when city services are repeatedly called to “problem properties.” The report reviewed similar bylaws in Nanaimo and Penticton.
“Staff reviewed Nanaimo’s Nuisance Abatement Bylaw and Penticton’s Good Neighbour Bylaw,” the report says. “Staff recommend similar language as the Nanaimo bylaw as the provisions closely align with what the city is seeking to achieve. Staff also reviewed Penticton’s bylaw provisions around ‘Repeat Nuisance Service Calls’ defined as more than one call where fire, police or city departments respond in a 24-hour period or more than three calls in a calendar year, and the corresponding fee for each subsequent visit therein.”
The city said it already has a Public Nuisance Bylaw that defines unsightly or problematic properties and allows for remedial action. But it does not have a system to recover the costs of repeated nuisance calls.
Council’s proposed bylaw would let the city decide when a property becomes a “nuisance property,” then recover costs when fire, bylaw or RCMP respond to calls there.
The city classifies nuisance behaviour as partying, loud music, public intoxication, fighting or potentially illegal or criminal activity, and said the bylaw would not affect urgent emergency calls.
Some residents have opposed the “cost recovery” system, arguing it’s unfair. Previous letters to council asked for exemptions for social service or harm-reduction agencies, a review of how the bylaw would interact with zoning and removal of ambiguous wording.
