Public Nuisance By-law

This by-law is a digital reproduction made available for information purposes only. It is not an official version of the by-law and not an exact reproduction.

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By-law number: 2245-21

Enacted: April 6, 2021

County service area: Building and Municipal Enforcement Services

Being a by-law to regulate nuisance, interference with another person's use and enjoyment of a public place and nuisance parties.

Definitions
Prohibited activity
Interference with use of public place
Deemed exceptions
Nuisance parties
Order to discontinue nuisance party
Close public highway
Enforcement and inspection
Penalty
Severability
Short title
Force and effect

1. Definitions

In this by-law,

a) “Building” means any permanent structure consisting of a roof supported by walls or columns that is used or intended to be used for the shelter, accommodation or enclosure of Persons, animals, goods, chattels or equipment;

b) “Clearly Audible” means sound that can be heard, and in the case where multiple sounds are heard, the most dominant sound;

c) “County” means the Corporation of Haldimand County and the land within its geographic limits;

d) “Detachment Commander” means the Detachment Commander of the Haldimand County Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police, or designate;

e) “Dwelling” means a Building that is a house in which a person or persons reside, or that contains one or more apartments or other places of residence in which one or more persons reside;

f) “Graffiti” mean images or lettering, scratched, scrawled, painted or applied by any form of marking on property that does not belong to the artist;

g) “Highway” includes a common and public Highway, street, avenue, parkway, driveway, square, place, bridge, viaduct or trestle, any part of which is intended for or used by the general public for the passage of vehicles or Persons, and includes the area between the lateral property lines thereof, including sidewalks and boulevards, and Highways shall have a corresponding meaning;

h) “Interference With The Use of a Public Place” includes any of the actions described in Section 3 of the By-law;

I) “Loiter” means to stand or wait around idly or without apparent purpose, or to travel indolently with frequent pauses without apparent destination;

j) “Municipal Law Enforcement Officer” means a Person or Persons appointed by Council to enforce the provisions of the County’s By-laws;

k) “Nuisance” includes:

Loitering in any Public Place;
fighting, or using profane or abusive language or gestures;
carrying open liquor;
remaining in or refusing to leave a Public Place after it is closed and/or when ordered to leave by an officer;
littering;
putting up Graffiti;
defacing, damaging or vandalizing public or private property;
expectorating in a Public Place;
urinating or defecating in a public place;
obstructing an officer in the course of his or her duties;
anything which is injurious to the health, or indecent, or offensive to the senses;
any other activity or conduct that is disorderly, annoying, unpleasant or obnoxious;

l) “Nuisance Party” means a social gathering which, by reason of the conduct of the Persons in attendance, is annoying, unpleasant, indecent or offensive to the senses of another person, or otherwise interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property by another person and includes but is not limited to:

disorderly conduct;
public drunkenness or public intoxication;
the unlawful sale, furnishing, or distribution of alcoholic beverages or controlled substances;
the deposit of refuse on public or private property;
damage to or destruction of public or private property;
pedestrian traffic, vehicular traffic, or illegal parking that obstructs the free flow of traffic or could interfere with the ability to provide emergency services;
sound created by yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling, singing or other vocal expression, or by the use of sound amplification device that is Clearly Audible at a Point of Reception;
unlawful open burning or fireworks;
public disturbances, including public brawls or public fights;
outdoor public urination or defecation;
use of or entry upon a roof not intended for such occupancy;

m) “Owner” means the registered Owner of a Lot and includes, occupant, tenant, or any person who otherwise has rightful possession of or possessory control of any Premises;

n) “Person” shall mean an individual, firm, corporation, association or partnership and includes an Owner;

o) "Point of Reception" means any point on the Premises of a Person where sound or vibration originating from other than those Premises is Clearly Audible to that Person, or any point in a Public Place where sound is Clearly Audible to a Person located more than 6 meters from the source of the sound;

p) “Premises” means any Public Place or private property in the County, including but not limited to Highways, parks, parking lots, beaches, quarries, fields, yards appurtenant to a Building or Dwelling or vacant lands, but does not mean a Building or Dwelling;

q) “Public Place” means any place to which the public has an express or implied right of access’ including but not limited to Highway, public park, parking lot, common, public square, public plaza, public sidewalk or public beach, and includes private property that is exposed to public view, but for the purposes of public urination and defecation, does not include a public washroom facility.

2. Prohibited activity

2.1 No Person shall cause, create, permit or participate in a Nuisance in any Public Place in the County.

3. Interference with use of public place

3.1 No Person shall interfere with another Person’s use and enjoyment of a Public Place by using abusive or insulting language as a personal invective, directed at either an individual or an identifiable group.

3.2 No Person shall while in a Public Place emit, cause or permit to be emitted or caused any sound created by yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling, singing or other vocal expression, or by the use of a sound amplification device that is Clearly Audible at a Point of Reception.

3.3 No person shall interfere with another Person’s use and enjoyment of a Public Place by physically blocking or impeding the other Person’s ability to access or traverse the Public Place.

3.4 No person shall interfere with another Person’s access to any private business, home or other private property through any of the actions described 3.1, 3.2 or 3.3 above.

4. Deemed exceptions

4.1 The following are deemed not to constitute an Interference with use of a Public Place or a Nuisance under this By-law:

i. actions taken by a government during an emergency involving the health, safety or welfare of the public;

ii. situations where the County, its servants, employees, contractors or agents are carrying out County operations or operating, maintaining or installing municipally-owned infrastructure, facilities or the like, except for the detonation of explosives;

iii. situations where contractors or property Owners are carrying out construction projects;

iv. noise created by the activity of snow removal;

v. road or bicycle races, parades, circuses, entertainment activities in Public Places or neighbourhood social activities when such events are approved by the County and such activity or event is in compliance with the conditions set by the County in approving such activity or event;

vi. lawful use of a public park for organized and unorganized sport and recreational activities, with or without a permit as permitted by County By-law 1534/15, being the Public Parks and facilities By-law;

vii. other organized public events in Public Places where a permit has been issued by the County authorizing such event and the event complies with all of the conditions of such permit;

viii. to the use of implements of husbandry in the operation of agricultural endeavours;

ix. to the operation of excavation equipment when used in a cemetery in conjunction with interment services.

5. Nuisance parties

5.1 No Person shall sponsor, conduct, continue, host, create, attend, allow, cause or permit a Nuisance Party.

5.2 No Person who is an Owner shall allow, cause or permit a Nuisance Party on a Premise under their possession or control.

6. Order to discontinue nuisance party

6.1 Upon the order of the Detachment Commander or his or her designate or Municipal Law Enforcement Officer or his or her designate, a Nuisance Party shall cease and all Persons not residing on the Premises shall leave the Premises where it is occurring.

6.2 An order under this section shall identify:

the location of the land on which the contravention occurred;
the reasonable particulars of the contravention of the By-law; and
the date and time by which there must be compliance with the order.

6.3 An order under this section may be given verbally or may be served personally on the Person to whom it is directed. If the order is given by regular mail to the last known address of that Person, and if given by registered mail, it shall be deemed to have been given on the third day after it is mailed. Service on a corporation can be effected by registered mail to the corporate mailing address.

6.4 No Person who does not reside on the Premises shall fail to leave the Premises after having been directed to leave the Premises by an order to discontinue activity under this By-law.

7. Close public highway

7.1 The Detachment Commander, an Ontario Provincial Police Officer, or a Municipal Law Enforcement Officer may temporarily close any Highway or portion thereof to public travel under this By-law where a Nuisance Party is occurring on or adjacent to the Highway by placing a notice on the Highway to be closed in accordance with the Municipal Act, 2001 (Act).

7.2 Where a Highway or portion of a Highway has been closed under this By-law, the common law right of passage by the public over the Highway and the common law right of access to the Highway by an Owner of land abutting the Highway are restricted, as directed by the Detachment Commander, an Ontario Provincial Police Officer, or a Municipal Law Enforcement Officer.

7.3 No Person shall use a Highway, or portion of a Highway that has been closed under this By-law except with lawful authority or in accordance with the direction of the Detachment Commander, an Ontario Provincial Police Officer, or a Municipal Law Enforcement Officer pursuant to this section.

7.4 No Person shall, without lawful authority, remove or deface any barricade, device, detour sign or notice placed on a Highway pursuant to this By-law.

8. Enforcement and inspection

8.1 The provisions of this By-law may be enforced by a Municipal Law Enforcement Officer, an Ontario Provincial Police Officer, or a Municipal Law Enforcement Officer, or other individual duly appointed for the purpose of enforcing this By-law.

8.2 For the purpose of ensuring compliance with this by-law, a Municipal Law Enforcement Officer or Ontario Provincial Police Officer may at all reasonable times, pursuant to the Act, enter upon and inspect any land to determine whether or not the following are being complied with:

this by-law;
a direction or order made under this by-law; or
a prohibition order made under s. 431 of the Act.

9. Penalty

9.1 Every Person who contravenes any provision of this by-law is guilty of an offence, and upon conviction is liable to a fine, and such other penalties, as provided for in Part 1 the Provincial Offences Act.

9.2 Otherwise, every Person who contravenes any provision of this By-law is guilty of an offence, and on conviction is liable to a maximum fine of $25,000.

10. Severability

10.1 If any provision or part of this By-law is declared by any court or tribunal of competent jurisdictions to be illegal or inoperative, in whole or in part, or inoperative in particular circumstances, the balance of the By-law, or its applications in other circumstances, shall not be affected and shall continue to be in full force and effect.

11. Continuation - repetition - prohibited - by order

11.1 The court in which the conviction has been entered, and any court of competent jurisdiction thereafter, may make an order prohibiting the continuation or repetition of the offence by the Person convicted, and such order shall be in addition to any other penalty imposed on the Person convicted.

12. Short title

12.1 This By-law may be referred to as the “Public Nuisance By-law”.

13. Force and effect

13.1 This By-law shall come into force and effect on the day it is passed.

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