STAFF REPORT - ADDRESSING BYLAW No. 825 and MTI BYLAW No. 643

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council adopt Bylaw No. 825, 2012;

AND THAT Council give MTI Bylaw No. 643, Amendment Bylaw No. 911 first, second and third readings;

AND THAT Council include Addressing Policy 6400-039 in the Policy Manual.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER'S COMMENTS

I concur with the recommendation.

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES' COMMENTS

I concur with the recommendation.

BACKGROUND

This report was originally presented in modified form to Council on February 21, 2012, where the bylaw received three readings. It was never adopted, as there were Municipal Ticket Information Bylaw amendments required for the enforcement of it. It is being brought forward again to rectify this. The report is being presented in detail now, along with a recommendation to amend the MTI Bylaw posthaste.

Currently there is no Town-enacted bylaw to regulate these actions. The Addressing Bylaw (attached) has been drafted in response to the need to have a formal mechanism for regulate street naming, street addressing (posted addresses on buildings) and civic addressing (legal parcel addresses).

ISSUES AND ANALYSIS

Council is the decision-making body for assigning Town-owned street names within the municipality (private strata roads are not named by Council). Staff, in turn, assigns civic addresses to properties on all streets. This proposed bylaw will give Council a clearer mandate in directing staff's internal work to ensure a logical pattern of civic addressing and to ensure that addresses are properly posted on property to reflect these civic addresses.

Currently, Council informally grants staff the ability to make changes to civic addresses for the purpose of community legibility and wayfinding, and to support the liveability of the community, Fire and Emergency Medical Services response, and generally improving the efficiency of the municipality in responding to community needs and acting in the public interest. The proposed bylaw will work to formalize these processes for Council. It is important that Council regulate these processes, particularly that emergency services has the ability to locate a residence, property or building; even brief delays can have severe and life-threatening consequences.

Staff notes that Canada Post's move to the 'superbox' model of mail delivery means that changes of address will affect mail delivery less in the future as the superboxes are implemented.

Consultation and Teamwork

An important component of this bylaw is public service. Staff are typically the first point of contact for a resident when dealing with address changes, and staff are keenly aware of how disruptive an address change can be to a resident. As such, staff utilize the typical 'View Royal' approach of maintaining personal and direct contact with the public, and making every attempt to accommodate a resident in their needs. Development Services routinely works with Emergency Services and the public to ensure that a balance between resident needs and the safe and efficient operation of the Town is maintained. These interactions and services provided include:

• written notification of address changes two months in advance to offer the resident a chance to interact with staff to best fit their needs, as well as making preparations for the address to change;
• close communication with Canada Post to ensure smooth cost-free transitions and mail forwarding and any other services required by the resident.

Staff's experiences have been overwhelmingly positive with the public in terms of the understanding that while choice of address is often limited where public safety is concerned, the Town wants to provide the best possible public service at all times. The goal of staff's public consultation in these cases is to convey the importance of public safety to the resident while doing everything possible to minimize impacts, and in this sense the interactions with the public are almost always very positive.

In terms of choice, residents have the ability to request changes to their civic addresses for reasons of legibility or convenience. These have historically been handled at a staff level. In situations where this can be accommodated within the context of safety and legibility, there is a small fee charged to the resident for doing so. In the case where there is a clear omission or error (whether recent or historic) the fee may be waived.

This bylaw addresses all naming and addressing functions the municipality must fill, including delegating authority to the Director of Development Services to:

• assign civic addresses to newly created lots upon the registration of a plan of subdivision;
• change civic addresses for existing lots as a matter of public interest and safety;
• approve resident applications to change civic addresses of lots;
• ensure street addresses are correctly, clearly and legibly displayed; and
• provide warnings and issue fines for non-compliance in posting correctly, clearly and legibly displayed street addresses.

Staff has inquired with the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development and confirmed that the Town has the power to enact a bylaw for such purposes.

To support the implementation of the Addressing Bylaw, the MTI Bylaw must be amended in order for the regulations within the Addressing Bylaw to be enforced effectively. The following offences and fines are proposed to be added to the MTI Bylaw:

POLICY CONSIDERATIONS

Attached to this report is a draft policy to be included in the Town's Policy Manual, which addresses the operational matters associated with administering this bylaw. This bylaw will formalize a function staff has been fulfilling at the Town, and will serve to enhance community function, legibility and wayfinding, and provide a safer and more efficient system of Fire and Emergency Medical Services for the Town. This bylaw abides by and promotes existing Town policies with respect to public health and safety.

BUDGET CONSIDERATIONS

The budget considerations in the enacting of this bylaw are minimal; it is hoped that this will be a cost-saving measure for the Town by reducing Staff and Council time and resources in streamlining the process of addressing changes.

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council adopt Bylaw No. 825, 2012;

AND THAT Council give MTI Bylaw No. 643, Amendment Bylaw No. 911 first, second and third readings;

AND THAT Council include Addressing Policy 6400-039 in the Policy Manual.

SUBMITTED BY: James Davison, MCIP RPP

REVIEWED BY: Lindsay Chase, MCIP RPP Director of Development Services

ATTACHMENTS

1. Draft Addressing Bylaw, February 14 2012
2. Addressing Policy, January 2015
3. Draft MTI Bylaw Amendment No. 911, January 2015