Burlington Council Receives Update on Building & Bylaw Staff Direction & Staffing

Burlington City Council received an update from Building & Bylaw staff on the status of outstanding staff directions, ongoing workplan items and plan for emerging issues, at our July 12 meeting.At the Council workshop of October 18, 2021 (CWC-10-21), staff outlined some of the challenges and opportunities related to the current by-law operation including outdated by-laws and insufficient staffing levels. In addition to delays brought on by the COVID19 pandemic, the by-law section currently has a staffing shortage (down 50% including Animal Control Officers) that is creating a delayed response to Council directions and emerging issues.A medium-term plan to resource and consolidate by-law services in the City of Burlington will be presented to Council as part of the 2023 Budget process (discussed further under SD-05-19) but in the short-term, the following measures have been undertaken to improve efficiency and capacity as follows:

• Active recruitment for vacant positions.
• Conversion of one temporary by-law officer position to temporary by-law policy coordinator.
• Realignment of duties to improve capacity in Licensing.
• Integration into the Customer Relationship Management System.
• Preparation for implementation into the Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS).

Below is the full motion we unanimously approved at Council:

Receive and file building and by-law department report BB-05-22 which outlines the status of outstanding staff directions and ongoing workplan items related to by-law enforcement; and

Remove staff direction SD-05-22 (CPRM-01-22), by-law to support police in reducing vehicular noise in Burlington from the outstanding business list.

For updates on outstanding staff directions and emerging issues, please read a copy of the staff report here: BB-05-22 Building and by-law staff direction and staffing update.MY TAKE:

We know we have bylaws that need to be reviewed and new ones to be implemented. I know the frustrations in the community stem from either not having a particular bylaw exist or having one that can’t be enforced due to various reasons, including resourcing. We also need some help from upper levels of government, to give us the jurisdiction to deal with some issues. I will liaise with City staff to advance our issues to the Provincial table and at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario — particularly on ticketing a moving vehicle without having to pull it over and the language around what constitutes a container/shed.