September 29, 1999

To:Scarborough Community Council

From:Bryan Byng

East District Manager

Municipal Licensing and Standards

Urban Planning and Development Services

Subject:Fence Exemption Process

Purpose:

At its meeting on September 14, 1999 the Scarborough Community Council adopted the following resolution:

"..... that the Manager of the Municipal Licensing and Standards, East District, be directed to report to the Community Council meeting¼ respecting the possibility of implementing an automatic staff approval process for exemptions to the fence by-law whereby the Manager need not report to Community Council unless requested to so by the local Councillor(s)."

 Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

NIL

 Recommendations:

That the Municipal Licensing and Standards Division examine alternative review and approval procedures for fence exemption requests and that alternatives be included for consideration when the draft Fence By-law is presented for Community Council review.

Background/History:

City of Scarborough Fence By-law 24945 as amended was enacted in October 1996. During the preparation of the by-law, it was recognized that situations would arise where compliance would be difficult. As a result, the by-law included a clause which provided a means to seek exemption from the requirements. Specifically, Section 14 of the By-law authorized the Planning and Buildings Committee or successor committee to grant exemptions from any provision of the by-law with any conditions as considered necessary. It was anticipated that such requests would be considered occasionally however, experience has proven otherwise. With the creation of the amalgamated City of Toronto, the process of review respecting exemptions was vested with the Community Councils while final approval rested with Toronto Council.

 Comments:

Staff review of exemption requests are limited to issues of safety and in particular, the interaction between pedestrians and motor vehicles vis a vis sight lines. Staff interest therefore, revolves around fence issues in street yards. As noted above, when the current by-law was drafted, it was anticipated that the exemption process would be used mostly for fences in street yards since the regulations respecting height are the most restrictive of all yards. While most exemption requests have involved street yard fences, a number of rear yard and interior side yard fence exemption requests have also been considered.

Typically, the division receives a complaint and if justified, a Notice of Violation is issued. It is generally at this point that an exemption request is received. If the fence is located in a yard other than a street yard, there are no safety issues of any sort which staff can use to evaluate the proposal. This results in a subjective evaluation which generally recommends approval.

Under the current legislation, there is no authority of which staff is aware, to delegate the approval process to staff and Ward Councillors. When the proposed consolidated Fence By-law was written, the issue of exemption was considered however, further study of the issue is required in consultation with Legal Services in order to ensure that legislative authority exists to delegate the approval process to staff and/or the Ward Councillors.

Contact Name:

Bryan Byng

East District Manager

(416) 396-7731

(416) 396-4266, Fax Number

byng#u#b@city.scarborough.on.ca

      Bryan Byng

East District Manger

Municipal Licensing and Standards

Urban Planning and Development Services

BB:es