Maintaining Safety and Harmony on City Streets

Discussion paper

Background

There are ongoing issues associated with nuisance behaviours occurring when groups of persons congregate in the roadway and on sidewalks, and cause a disturbance (e.g., yelling, fighting), particularly when restaurants and bars close, and groups of patrons leave the establishments. These disturbances have been noted, for example, by residents, and property and business owners in the ByWard Market area as well as other entertainment districts, and are regularly reported to the Ottawa Police Service and the City. Representatives of the Ottawa Police Service have counselled that persons congregating on and engaging in boisterous activities and behaviours on City roadways and sidewalks may pose a danger to pedestrian and vehicular traffic and may become a nuisance to members of the public, as well as to adjacent residents and business owners.

Currently, the primary enforcement mechanism available to police to address these disturbances is the Criminal Code. This is often not the most appropriate and expeditious means to address the nature of nuisance type offences given Court processes and the long-term impacts of criminal charges and convictions on defendants.

Therefore, to address the behaviours and to provide a more efficient and appropriate mechanism through which the described nuisance issues may be addressed, consideration is being given to establishing by-law offences in this regard. By-law offences allow for the issuance of an infraction notice with an established fine, which acts as a reasonable deterrent to nuisance behaviour.

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Authority under Municipal Act, 2001

Under Section 128 of the Municipal Act, 2001, municipalities in Ontario have the legal authority to regulate and prohibit public nuisances. The Municipal Act also gives municipal councils the authority to decide not only what is a public nuisance but also what could become or cause a public nuisance. The Municipal Act, 2001 now specifically states that a municipal council’s decision on what is a nuisance is not reviewable by any court if it is arrived at in good faith.

Generally, municipal councils will make decisions on nuisance issues based on a case by-case decision and usually consider information such as complaints received by the public or reports about a particular situation. In the past, court decisions have confirmed that the aim of public nuisance regulations, such as those that prohibit loud or excessive noise, is to control annoyances and to prevent interference with citizens’ enjoyment of public spaces.

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The Specific Proposal

Consideration is being given to amending the Use and Care of Roads By-law 2003-498 to add provisions that would prohibit disorderly conduct on City streets or prohibit activity that would interfere with the general public using City streets or with adjacent property owners. Specifically, the amendment under review is the addition of the following provisions:

  1. No person shall engage in loud, boisterous, threatening, abusive, insulting or indecent language, or engage in any disorderly conduct or behaviour on a highway; and
  2. No person shall engage in any activity so as to interfere with or become a nuisance to the general public using the highway or to adjacent property owners.

Under the Use and Care of Roads By-law, a highway includes the traveled portion of the road as well as the sidewalk and therefore, these offences would be applicable to those areas.

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Discussion

The proposed amendments will create useful enforcement tools for enforcement personnel to address these disturbances. In turn, this will address issues of safety for pedestrian and vehicular traffic as well as potential nuisances to the public and to adjacent residents and business owners. The City’s Parks and Facilities By-law 2004-476 already prohibits the same behaviours in City parks and facilities and therefore the suggested amendment for City highways is a consistent approach to ensuring that properties and areas in the City's ownership and under the City's control are free of nuisances.

These new offences would assist in ensuring that those using City streets are free to do so safely and without interference from nuisances and that adjacent property owners are not adversely affected by nuisances occurring there.

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Consultation

We welcome public views on the subject and invite you to complete the comment sheet provided and submit it by May 31, 2010, by fax at 613-580-2719 or by e-mail to Christine.Hartig@ottawa.ca. For more information, please contact Ms. Hartig 613-580-2424, ext. 25629.

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Next Steps

Staff will review the comments received and report back to City Council accordingly.

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Permalink: http://ottawa.ca/e/CAP077806