There's a by-law for that

Here at the City, we actually have very few tools to accomplish what residents want. We have on the one hand the ability to spend your money on things, and all the policies that go around that. On the other, we have regulations, which typically take the form of by-laws.

A big exercise that we’ll undertake this year is to review our by-laws to ensure those are still helpful to us in accomplishing the kind of city we want. That’s about to get underway, and I’ve been asked to provide some input about my priorities.

Many already know that addressing shortcomings in the Urban Tree Conservation By-law is something I’m keen to work on. And, it won’t be a surprise to hear that reviewing the taxi by-law in light of Uber’s launch is on the agenda. I’ve heard requests to review graffiti and property standards rules. There have been requests to look at animal care and control.

When everything is a priority, nothing is, as they say. But, I don’t want to miss any concerns that you might have. As I prepare my work-plan for the review, I’d like to know what’s on your mind.

The list of by-laws is ginormous – take a look at http://ottawa.ca/en/residents/laws-licenses-and-permits/laws/laws-z. What changes would you like to see and why? Tell us with respect to specific by-laws whether the policy needs to be re-visited, whether the application of the by-law needs tweaking, or whether there are enforcement and service standard issues.

I can’t guarantee of course that there will be an exhaustive review of every single rule on the book, but I’d invite Kitchissippi residents to contact me about your specific concerns. Write to us at jeff.leiper@ottawa.ca, or come see me at one of my upcoming pop-ups.